This talk will explore the marriages of noblewomen in English and Marcher society in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, from the creation of a union to its end. It will look at what arrangements were put in place for the couple’s union, including the maritagium (marriage portion in land) – the original Anglo-Norman landed provision carved out by the family or guardian of the woman – and consider how far life on the militarised Anglo-Welsh frontier affected these arrangements. It will also discuss what is known of the wedding ceremony itself. Although married women had, in theory, no independent legal identity from their husbands under common law, in practice they played an important role in the management of households and estates, and were expected to engage in a working partnership with their husbands. There is plenty of evidence to show that society, and the women themselves, took these roles seriously. Once widowed, noblewomen might find themselves subject to strong pressure to remarry (such as to an Angevin royal favourite!), but many were able to take control of their own marriage rights. Some women entered new unions soon after their husband’s deaths, while others retained their independence, operating with full legal capacity.

Dr Emma Cavell is a Senior Lecturer in Medieval History at Swansea University. She specialises in aristocratic women of the Welsh borderlands, law and litigation in England and Wales, and Jewish women in medieval England. Her recent publications include ‘Widows, Native Law and the Long Shadow of England in Thirteenth-Century Wales’ (English Historical Review) and ‘The Measure of her Actions: A Quantitative Assessment of Anglo-Jewish Women’s Litigation at the Exchequer of the Jews, 1219-81’ (Law and History Review).

This talk will offer an overview of medieval sex and sexuality, looking at both what people thought (including religious and medical ideas) and what they did. It will explore the role of sex in medieval courtship and marriage, including the reproductive challenges and choices faced by medieval couples, before turning its attention to all the ways that medieval people were not supposed to have sex. Finally, it will look at the role of sex in medieval culture, in particular art and literature.

Dr Katherine Harvey  (Birkbeck, University of London) is the author of The Fires of Lust: Sex in the Middle Ages (Reaktion, 2021) and Episcopal Appointments in England, c. 1214-1344 (Ashgate, 2014). She has published widely in academic journals and in periodicals including History Today, BBC History Magazine, The Times Literary Supplement and The Sunday Times.

Childhood, at least until early modern times, was once considered brief and lacking in character. Children were merely ‘small adults’. Nicholas Orme’s lecture will use the huge surviving body of evidence about medieval children to show that, on the contrary, they were seen by adults very much as they are today, and enjoyed a rich culture of relationships, clothes, toys, games, and books.

Professor Nicholas Orme is emeritus professor of history, Exeter University, and the author of many books including Medieval Children, Medieval Schools, The History of England’s Cathedrals, Going to Church in Medieval England, and most recently Ten Cathedral Ghosts – fictional stories of cathedral life.

The successes of Roger Mortimer, first earl of March (1287–1330), were fundamentally underpinned by effective and strategic dynastic marriage, including his own to Joan de Geneville (1286–1356). The Geneville marriage brought Mortimer control of the family’s vast inheritance, allowing him to consolidate his territorial power, along with twelve children. This talk will consider the marriages Mortimer made for his sons and daughters in the years 1316–1328, and how these marriages allowed him to provide for his children, reinforce his power, and establish a dynasty that would come to dominate political life in England for the rest of the fourteenth century and beyond.

Dr Chloë R. McKenzie is Assistant Professor in Medieval History at Northeastern University – London (formerly New College of the Humanities) and Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Culture at the University of Southampton. Her research focuses on fourteenth century elite women, court politics, and medieval dress. Chloë’s forthcoming monograph The Ladies of the Garter, which is based on her doctoral research, will be published by Boydell and Brewer in early 2024.

This talk will explore some of the options for the younger siblings of the Mortimer lords of Wigmore/earls of March, which included being ordained in the church, entering religious orders, military and administrative careers. During the frequent minorities of the child Earls of March in the fourteenth century, some played key roles in managing the Mortimer estates and protecting the interests of their nephews.

Philip Hume is the author of The Welsh Marcher Lordships I: Central and North (Logaston Press, March 2021; and editor of the Marcher Lordship series), On the Trail of the Mortimers’ (Logaston Press, 2016), On the trail of the Mortimers in the Welsh Marches (Logaston Press 2022), co-author of The Ludlow Castle Heraldic Roll (Logaston Press, 2019), and author of articles in various journals. Philip is the Secretary of the Mortimer History Society which supports and encourages the study of the Mortimers and the Welsh Marcher lordships.