The Construction of Gender through Violence in Medieval France from the Letters of Remission, 1410-1411
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2018-08-27
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Abstract
Violence was pervasive in medieval society, and as such it was regulated by strong sociocultural norms, as well as judicial and customary laws. Violence, but also its acceptable or justifiable uses, therefore were socially constructed. Gender, like violence, was also strongly controlled and regulated through social norms that dictated how men and women were to behave. Because both violence and gender were socially constructed and regulated they should be studied together. This project seeks to investigate the relationship between violence and the construction and reinforcement of gender identities (masculinity and femininity) in medieval France from the year 1410-1411 based on the letters of remission. The letters of remission were pardons granted by the king in the form of a royal letter, given to supplicants who had committed crimes but could justify their actions. The letters under investigation here were granted to supplicants who sought remission for violent crimes. I will argue that violence was not only used to construct, reinforce, and maintain gender identities, but by seeking and especially being granted pardon on these grounds, these actions were legitimized and therefore perpetuated their social acceptability.
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Bailey, A. T. M. (2018). The Construction of Gender through Violence in Medieval France from the Letters of Remission, 1410-1411 (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/32866