The Tudor Legal Loophole That Gave Women Their Lives Back

About this episode

This episode explores how Tudor women navigated their legal identities and used widowhood as a strategy for empowerment.

The moment a Tudor woman got married, she legally ceased to exist. No property, no contracts, no rights - her entire legal identity absorbed into her husband's. But the moment he died? She got it all back. And some of these women knew exactly what that meant. In this episode we're looking at three Tudor women who used widowhood as a strategy... whether they meant to or not. Bess of Hardwick turned four marriages into one of the greatest fortunes in England. Catherine Willoughby turned down a king to marry her servant. And Mary Howard just looked at every remarriage proposal and said no, flatly, repeatedly, forever. Lady in Waiting episode I referenced: ⁠https://youtu.be/W8BgrU76hwc⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Heather Teysko

Topics covered

• Tudor history
• women's rights
• legal identity
• widowhood
• marriage strategies

Keywords

• Tudor women
• legal loophole
• widowhood
• Bess of Hardwick
• Catherine Willoughby
• Mary Howard

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