A WOMAN'S ROLE: HOW SCRIBES DEPICTED WOMEN ON THE FIFTEENTH-CENTURY CANTERBURY ROLL.

The Canterbury Roll is a genealogy of the kings of England which was created and altered by various scribes throughout the fifteenth century. Though the manuscript is primarily focused on men, women are also included. The women chosen for inclusion provide insight into each scribe's perceptions of the appropriate behavior for aristocratic women and also reveal the scribe's motivations for working on the roll. Despite the fact that the manuscript was completed over a period of approximately fifty years, the view that women should conform to societal expectations persists throughout. It appears that the primary motivation behind the inclusion of women, in edits both before and during the Wars of the Roses, was to demonstrate the legitimacy of the king's claim to the throne. Women included on the roll who did not conform to traditional expectations were either linked to disruptive periods in history or their influence was minimized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]