Mapping Medieval Marriage: Canon Law, Regionalism, and the Evolution of Legal History

This article revisits James Brundage's landmark 1975 study on medieval marriage as a starting point for tracing key developments in the historiography of marriage law over the past fifty years. Brundage's analysis of consent and marital affection in canon law laid the groundwork for a dynamic field that has since expanded in scope and method. Rather than providing a comprehensive overview, this article highlights three major shifts: debates over the influence of canon law ideals on marital practice; growing attention to regional variation in legal interpretation; and the impact of shifts in the field of legal history on the study of marriage. This article is part of a Special Issue marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Journal of Medieval History.