The legitimacy of bastards

Matthews, Helen (Historian)2019

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Summary

For the nobility and gentry in later medieval England, land was a source of wealth and status. Their marriages were arranged with this in mind, and it is not surprising that so many of them had mistresses and illegitimate children. In theory, bastards were at a considerable disadvantage. Regarded as 'filius nullius' or the son of no one, they were unable to inherit real property and barred from the priesthood. In practice, illegitimacy could be less of a stigma in late medieval England than it became between the 16th and late 20th centuries. There were ways of making provision for illegitimate offspring and some bastards did extremely well: in the church; through marriage; as soldiers; a few even succeeding to the family estates. This book considers the individuals who had illegitimate children, the ways in which they provided for them and attitudes towards both the parents and the bastard children.