Illegitimacy in Late Medieval England Laws, Dispensation and Practice

‘Dishonourable’ youth, guilds, and the changed world view of sex, illegitimacy, and women in late-sixteenth-century Germany

“…83 Secret or clandestine marriages (so-called ' Winkelehen ', that is, marriages which took place in private without public witnesses and parental consent) were recognized, though grudgingly at times, by the Church. 84 Needless to say, they were socially acceptable. Equally socially acceptable was cohabitation, that is, living together without religious or secular official sanctions and such 'wilde Ehen ', wild marriages, were widespread well into the sixteenth century.…”