Read e-book online Devising, Dying and Dispute: Probate Litigation in Early PDF

Seventeenth-century England was once a rustic passionate about estate rights. for under those that owned estate have been thought of to have a vested curiosity within the upkeep of legislation, order and social concord. As such, developing the possession of 'things' was once a relentless situation for everybody, and nowhere is that this extra glaring than within the circumstances of disputed wills. in accordance with a wealth of surviving facts from the Prerogative courtroom of Canterbury, the probate jurisdiction which probated wills of the extra prosperous English homeowners in addition to a few of people with a extra modest volume of estate, this e-book investigates what litigation over the validity of wills unearths concerning the interaction among society and legislations. the amount investigates, catalogs, and systematizes the felony concerns that have been raised in will disputes within the Canterbury courtroom within the final half the 17th century. even if, this isn't only a e-book approximately legislation and criminal perform. The files from which it attracts plunge us into deeply own and infrequently tragic events, revealing how the final requests of the lifeless and loss of life have been frequently missed or misinterpreted by way of family members, neighbors and collectors for his or her personal gain. by means of concentrating on estate legislations as mirrored in circumstances of disputed wills, the booklet offers a glimpse at a miles fuller spectrum of society than is frequently the case. Even humans of fairly modest potential have been involved to move on their possessions, and their circumstances supply a photo of the kind of gadgets owned and social relationships printed through styles of bequests. This too is correct for girls, who regardless of being denied complete participation in lots of components of civic existence, are often encountered as key avid gamers in lawsuits over disputed wills. What emerges from this learn is an image of a society for which notions of legislation and personal estate have been more and more intertwined, but during which courts have been much less serious about formality than with making sure that the intentions of will-makers have been competently carried out.