Marriage, Family, and Law in Medieval Europe: Collected Studies

Bonnie Bates is a reference librarian at the National Gallery of Canada.

Michael Sheehan was a major force in the development of medieval social
history. Adopting a multidisciplinary approach to his subject, he
concentrated his research in three main areas: the will, Christian
marriage, and the family. Each of these areas is highlighted in this
volume of essays, which are notable both for their clarity of language
and style and for their success in making history relevant to
contemporary readers.

For Sheehan, canon law was a springboard for a broader examination of
issues of marriage and family. In “Choice of Marriage Partner,” he
writes that “[m]edieval social historians have usually paid
insufficient attention to marriage as a relationship, while historians
of canon law and theology have almost overlooked the family, the
institution that provided the raison d’кtre of the sacrament that
they studied.” Not only did Sheehan seek to remedy this imbalance, but
he was one of the first to explore the role of women in medieval society
and to advance the inclusion of women’s history in research and
academic curriculums.

General reader and scholar alike will be well served by this collection
of essays, which are presented in their original form and supported by
clear and helpful footnotes. The volume includes a bibliography listing
all of Sheehan’s works and a foreword by James K. Farge, who writes
that more collections of Sheehan’s writings are forthcoming: a welcome
promise.