Get a Husband by Harvest or Else

Here's a little insight into what marriage sometimes meant in past cultures, in this case among the serfs of 13th-century England:

If a widow has not remarried within a few months of her husband's death, and the lord's land is in danger of being neglected as a consequence, she will be ordered to choose a capable husband before the next meeting of the manorial court -- normally within three weeks. If she does not, the bailiff or the reeve will select a suitable man for her. If the parties refuse to marry, they will be fined and, if they continued to refuse, imprisoned until they do consent.

A widow with sons old enough to do the work, or other relatives willing to pitch in, could get away with not remarrying -- all the lord cared about was that the work be done. But the assumption was that this was the husband's job, and a man would be found to do it.

The quotation is from The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer (2008), which I will be writing about soon.