TY - JOUR
T1 - Usury legislation, cash and credit
T2 - the development of the female investor in the late Tudor and Stuart periods
AU - Spicksley, Judith Mary
PY - 2008/5
Y1 - 2008/5
N2 - This article uses testamentary evidence from Lincoln diocesan court between the 1570s and the 1690s to examine links between inheritance, a rise in money-lending amongst single women, and an increase in the proportion of women that never married. Two trends emerge: first, more fathers after the 1570s chose to bequeath cash to their daughters; second, they were more likely to restrict access to this portion by age rather than marriage. Assisted by a softening of attitudes towards interest-bearing lending, these changes offered some single women a measure of financial independence that may have impacted on their marriage decisions.
AB - This article uses testamentary evidence from Lincoln diocesan court between the 1570s and the 1690s to examine links between inheritance, a rise in money-lending amongst single women, and an increase in the proportion of women that never married. Two trends emerge: first, more fathers after the 1570s chose to bequeath cash to their daughters; second, they were more likely to restrict access to this portion by age rather than marriage. Assisted by a softening of attitudes towards interest-bearing lending, these changes offered some single women a measure of financial independence that may have impacted on their marriage decisions.
KW - usury, female, investor, inheritance, legislation, credit
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=41149092500&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/j.1468-0289.2007.00402.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1468-0289.2007.00402.x
M3 - Article
SN - 0013-0117
VL - 61
SP - 277
EP - 301
JO - Economic History Review
JF - Economic History Review
IS - 2
ER -