(Image
source: University of York Digital Collections, York Cause Papers, CP E 23/1)
On Wednesday, 24 June 2026, Matthew Cleary
will present a paper entitled “Old
Enough to Marry? Age, Memory, and Delay in York Cause Paper E 23, 1332–33”
as part of the Centre for Ius Commune seminar series at Adam Mickiewicz
University. The seminar will be held online on Wednesday, 24.06.2026 at 11 am CEST.
The paper examines Crane c. Draycote (York Cause Paper E 23, 1332–33), a matrimonial
dispute that turned on questions of age, consent, memory, and delay. At the
heart of the case was the validity of vows exchanged eight years earlier, when
Alice Draycote and William Crane were in their early teens. Witnesses for Alice
maintained that both parties had been fourteen when they exchanged verba de presenti, while William claimed
that he had been only thirteen and had been coerced into the agreement.
When Alice sought a judgment years later,
the court was required to determine whether a valid marriage had been formed
and how the passage of time affected the parties’ claims. The case reveals how
canon law demanded precise temporal reckoning while generating uncertainty when
remembered and lived experiences of age, consent, and delay did not fit neatly
within legal categories.
The seminar offers tan opportunity to
discuss the paper before its presentation at the 2026 International Medieval
Congress in Leeds. At the IMC, the paper will form part of Session 1133, “Medieval Canon Law, II: Marriage and
Timing”, scheduled for Wednesday, 8 July 2026, from 11:15 AM to 12:45 PM.
The session is sponsored by the Iuris Canonici Medii Aevi Consociatio /
International Society of Medieval Canon Law (ICMAC).
Those interested in attending are invited
to email Matthew Cleary at matthew.cleary@amu.edu.pl
to receive the meeting link.
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