The Benefits and Drawbacks of Femme Sole Status in England, 1300–1630

Women and the Acquisition, Transmission, and Execution of Public Offices in Early Modern Portugal

“…As Marjorie McIntosh has shown, some married women in early modern England preferred not to apply for a femme sole status because of the drawbacks that legal autonomy could precipitate. 74 It is possible that, in early modern Portugal, more than a few women were glad enough to have their men maintain the public image of public offices, for women might have been aware that -given the inheritable nature of office holding -many public offices had more to do with family connections than with skill and merit. Only one reference was found that raised questions of the candidate's ability to perform the work.…”

Philippa Russell and the Wills of London's Late Medieval Singlewomen

“…9 (All widows and never-married women were femmes soles at common law, able to plead and answer cases on their own behalf; some wives in London and other towns could also claim femme sole status, if their husbands approved. 10 ) Even in this legal context, however, the primary meaning of 'singlewoman' was being quickly restricted to the never-married. As early as 1431, English judges had differentiated 'widow' and 'singlewoman' in a ruling that both were suffi cient 'additions' -that is, legally acceptable indicators of the status of a defendant or plaintiff -under the statute of 1413.…”

Review of periodical literature published in 2005

“…She also illustrates how women’s work was far from isolated from the market and from commercial activity; even in smaller and less‐wealthy households, there was opportunity for employment in a variety of roles for female servants. McIntosh, in the Journal of British Studies , argues that operating as femme sole was not necessarily an attractive proposition for female traders, whose best advantage may have been best served to sustain their economic endeavours as femme couverte . This assessment also encourages McIntosh to the view that, even where female economic independence can be shown to have existed, it did so within the confines of a male‐dominated market place.…”

“…Erickson provided considerable insight into the intricacies of married women’s legal rights, by emphasizing that the loss of women’s legal independence under common law was at odds with most European practice. McIntosh adopted a different approach to the same question (in Journal of British Studies ), investigating why relatively few married English women took advantage of local urban customs that allowed them to trade with femme sole status. She argues that, in practice, women often had greater legal and financial flexibility as traders when ‘hidden’ from the law as a femme couvert .…”