Women, marriage and the law in later medieval Ireland with Dr Sparky Booker

About this episode

Dr Sparky Booker discusses the legal systems and marriage practices in later medieval Ireland.

** We are taking a week off and will be back January 16th!** Happy Stephen’s Day and Happy New Year! I hope everyone is having a very lovely Christmas break. This week we are joined by the incredible Dr Sparky Booker, Assistant Professor in Medieval Irish History, Trinity College Dublin. Sparky enlightens us on the legal systems in force in 14th and 15th century Ireland, how to keep your land and why Elizabeth Le Veele married King of Leinster, Art McMurrough. She also discusses how the prevalence of intermarriage in the so-called 'four obedient shires' indicates that the English and Irish interacted far more peaceably and amicably than the often belligerent attitudes displayed toward the Irish in records from the colony would indicate, and that the attempts made by the Irish parliament to distance the English of Ireland from their Irish neighbours were largely unsuccessful. Suggested reading: Sparky Booker, Cultural Exchange and Identity in late medieval Ireland: the English and Irish of the Four Obedient Shires, Studies in Medieval Life and Thought Series (Cambridge, 2018) Sparky Booker, ‘Women and legal history: the case of late medieval English Ireland and the challenges of…

People in this episode

Guest: Dr Sparky Booker

Topics covered

• women in medieval Ireland
• marriage laws
• legal systems
• intermarriage
• 14th century
• 15th century

Keywords

• medieval Ireland
• women
• marriage
• law
• intermarriage
• 14th century
• 15th century

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Trinity College Dublin

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