English Domestic Relations 1487-1653

Book excerpt: Powell, Chilton Latham. English Domestic Relations 1487-1653. A Study of Matrimony and Family Life in Theory and Practice as Revealed by the Literature, Law, and History of the Period. New York: Columbia University Press, 1917. xii, 274 pp. Reprinted 2001 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN 1-58477-096-1. Cloth. $75. * From its first appearance in English writing in 1487, the marriage contract, its making and breaking, and its subsequent effect on English family life, is examined here through the lens of the law, literature and events of the period. Powell includes discussions of contemporary attitudes toward women, and domestic conduct books, with selections from several conduct books included in the appendix. This unique treatise also offers the only existing account of English writings on the subject of the divorce of Henry VIII at the time of original publication.