An analysis of the lived experience of Christian married life in Christian medieval Europe, this study examines the process of getting married and wedding celebrations; the married life of lay couples and clergy, their sexuality, and any remarriage; and alternative living, including concubinage, polygyny, and the single life.

Elisabeth van Houts is Honorary Professor in European Medieval History at the University of Cambridge. Born in the Netherlands, she received her doctorate from the University of Groningen in 1982. Since 1984, she has lived and worked in Cambridge where she teaches medieval history, and has been a Fellow of Emmanuel College since 1997. The University of Cambridge awarded her a DLitt (a higher doctorate) in 2001 and the title of Honorary Professor in European Medieval History in 2011. Van Houts has published widely on Anglo-Norman history, the history of women and gender, and medieval historiography and memory.

• Introduction


• Part I: Getting Married


• 1: Making of Marriage


• 2: Wedding Celebrations


• Part II: Married Life


• 3: Sexuality and Love


• 4: Authority and Collaboration


• 5: End of Marriage and Remarriage


• 6: Clerical Marriages


• Part III: Alternative Living


• 7: Living with One or More Partners


• 8: Single Life


• Conclusion


• Bibliography