Judicial procedures in trials with female participation in medieval Banat
Judicial procedures in trials with female participation in medieval Banat

Summary/Abstract: This article aims to conclude a cycle of studies dedicated to the presence of noblewomen from the counties of medieval Banat before central or local courts. Our research focuses on the 14th century and the first half of the 15th century because, due to objective reasons, the exponential proliferation of chancery documents during this period makes the presence of women—especially noblewomen—sufficiently noticeable in records to allow for the identification of certain patterns that we believe can be extrapolated to medieval society as a whole. Noblewomen's access to justice derived from their legal status and their right to land ownership, which granted them legal personality but also frequently caused conflicts when it clashed with the traditional male inheritance system. We observed that these women followed the same judicial procedures imposed by the legal system of the Hungarian Kingdom, which was based on custom and oral tradition. Moreover, even in medieval times, there was a concern for providing women with a certain degree of legal protection, although they were still considered inferior and less capable of managing their own lives and property. Despite significant social and legal limitations, noblewomen had access to both central and local courts of the Hungarian Kingdom and did not hesitate to engage in lawsuits when their rights or interests were violated. This study addresses several issues related to judicial procedures that influenced the course of justice and sometimes hindered the cases involving women. It examines factors affecting the duration of trials, the inconvenience of repeated postponements, instances where cases were transferred from lower to higher courts, the procedure for taking oaths, and, ultimately, the final rulings—unfortunately, very few of which have been preserved to this day.

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