both of which have been studied extensively in the context of medieval Chris-
tian urban life. These issues will be examined in the following pages.
RemarriageAs we saw in the previous chapter, the suspicion of infanticide on the part of
the mother was raised as a consideration in the talmudic discussions on the re-
marriage of women during the twenty-four-month nursing period. The Pales-
tinian Talmud cited this suspicion as the reason for forbidding remarriage,
whereas the Babylonian Talmud rejected this suggestion, although they both
arrived at the same legal ruling. The medieval commentators mention both
traditions, often raising this consideration before summarily dismissing it.
In the nonlegal sources, we find that infanticide is viewed as a possible and
in some cases probable option practiced by some women seeking to remarry.
Sefer H·asidimrelates:
A woman wanted to take a husband. The man said: “Because she has so many
children, I do not want to marry her.” She took the hands of her children and put
them on the hands of those who had died, and they [the dead children] called
after them [the live children] and they died.^81This story recounts a fascinating technique of causing death and provides in-
sight into the medieval understanding of the relationship between the living
and the dead. In this case, touching dead children’s skin caused the dead chil-
dren’s souls to call the living children’s souls and resulted in their eventual
death. More interesting, however, for our discussion is the strong desire attrib-
uted to the woman. She wants to remarry so badly that she is willing to kill her
children. This woman was probably not alone, since, as we saw in a case men-
tioned in the previous chapter, the widow from Krakow was also willing to go
to great lengths in order to remarry (although her actions were not similar to
the woman in this story from Sefer H·asidim). In addition, R. Tam’s strict atti-
tude, preventing widows and divorcees from remarrying during the nursing pe-
riod, as well as the reinforcement of his opinion, indicate that the social norm
was for these women to remarry quickly.
This phenomenon of quick remarriage, alluded to in the Jewish texts, is dis-
cussed in contemporary Christian sources as well. In the Christian case, re-
marriage shortly after the death of a spouse was not forbidden by law. In most
places, however, local custom was to wait at least a year before remarrying.
During this year, the widow could often find herself in a very difficult finan-
cial situation, if she was not a wealthy woman. In Christian society, the rights
of wives to their husband’s property after his death varied from place to place
according to local laws and customs. In some places, women were allowed to
take only their jewelry, personal possessions, and a small part of the husband’s