'Marriage Disputes in Medieval England' by Frederik Pedersen: Hambledon Press, 2000, vii–xi + 235pp (hardback £25), ISBN 1 85285 198 8

A student of modern family law would be excused for thinking that the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts mattered little, such has been the predominance of the secular courts in this area since 1857. In this study of the Church courts of the province of York mainly during the 14th century, Frederik Pedersen demonstrates just how much things have changed. Not only were medieval marriage disputes resolved by ecclesiastical courts, the legal rules governing marriage appear to have permeated through all strata of medieval society and to have influenced the marital behaviour of much of the population.