‘By her own mouth speaking’: Women's Authoritative Voices in Early Modern Wills and Testaments

Abstract

This article uses women's wills and testaments written in Scotland prior to 1600 to look for women's authoritative voices. Will-making was an activity open to everyone in early modern Scotland and, far from being solely formulaic, sixteenth-century wills and testaments were documents in which women could, and did, make specific wishes and bequests known, often quite explicitly. In doing so, these women used their knowledge of their legal rights, and responsibilities, to clearly articulate both the items that were theirs to bequeath, and to whom and how these items should be distributed. While there was a great deal about early modern will-making that was prescribed, this study shows that within this process there were also opportunities for individual voices to be recorded. Few documents were created in this period that allow women's voices to be heard, and even fewer survive. This article shows that wills and testaments of early modern Scotland are one source through which the desires and voices of women can be accessed. In doing so, it provides a key consideration of why, how, and to what ends women made bequests and how such actions give insight into their social and economic links, relationships, and responsibilities.