Law and History

Running head: LAW AND HISTORY 1
Law and History
Student’s Name
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LAW AND HISTORY 2
Introduction
The law of coverture in Medieval England traces its roots to the feudal Norman customs.
This law dictated the status of a woman after marriage whether legal or political1. Before getting
into marriage the woman could freely enter into contracts, practice trade as a single entity and
carry out several tasks which ceased when she got married due to her “marital unity.”
After marriage, the husband and the wife were treated as a single entity where property
rights and other rights of the woman including the separate legal existence disappeared since she
was one with the husband2. The wife had no right and control over her own property, they were
not allowed to file lawsuits in courts, they could not sign contracts on their own and neither
could they sell properties without the consent of the husband. This paper discusses the legal
restrictions of law of coverture and how the efforts towards circumventing it.
Restrictions of The Law of Coverture
Marriage united the husband and the wife in law which meant that the rights of the
woman were forgotten or suspended as they were incorporated into those of her husband. This
married woman under the law of coverture was called feme covert while single unmarried
women were referred to as feme sole. This names had their origin from the Norman terms3.
The man or the woman could not enter into a contract with each other, since this would
show that they are different entities in the marriage thereby going against the law of coverture,
1 Joanne, Bailey. "Favored or oppressed? Married women, property and ‘coverture ‘in England, 1660–
1800." Continuity and Change 17, no. 3 (2002), 351.
2 Amy Louise, Erickson. "Common law versus common practice: the use of marriage settlements in early
modern England." Economic History Review (1990), 21.
3 Margot, Finn. "Women, consumption and coverture in England, c. 1760–1860." The Historical
Journal 39, no. 3 (1996), 703.

LAW AND HISTORY 3
man and woman in the marriage were a single entity therefore signing a contract with her is the
same as signing a contract with himself.
The mandate of taking care of the family was on the man and this meant that if the wife
had acquired a debt which she failed to pay, then the husband was responsible for paying the
debt. If the wife encountered an incident that required reporting to court she required, the consent
of the husband to sue the offender. In the court systems neither of the couple could testify against
or for each other since it was impossible for their testimony to be indifferent due to their union4.
Even though the law of coverture considered the husband and wife as one person, in most
situation the man was considered supreme to the woman and there were instances when the
woman was considered inferior and an agent working according to the directions of the husband.
This meant that most actions that are done by the wife during coverture were void since the
husband was responsible for those actions.
In Seneca Falls declaration of Sentiments the legal existence of wife under the law of
coverture is described as “civilly dead” unlike the widows and unmarried women who enjoyed
the privilege of owning property, managing business such as shops and representing themselves
to court unlike married women who did not enjoy any of those privileges unless under certain
conditions5.
Any income generating activity that the wife engaged in before, after marriage is under
the control of the husband, therefore if she was able to earn some income the income belonged to
the husband for they were one entity.
In the case of murder, where a husband killed the wife he was to be charged with murder
which was punishable by death or imprisonment, on the other hand if the wife murdered the
4 Ibid 8.
5 Ibid 10.