ABSTRACT
For legal-historically inclined Shakespeare scholars the year 2000 invited retrospect into a century of great achievement. In the early part of the twentieth century Maitland and those who followed made momentous headway in study of medieval English law. Dower and jointures became nearly mutually exclusive possibilities for the support of widows following the 1536 Statute of Uses. By this a jointure, if arranged before the marriage, would exclude the widow's common law right to dower. The 'knowns' concerning so-called clandestine marriage during Shakespeare's time are easily set out; possibly for that reason, some have claimed with assurance that their inferences concerning it are anchored firmly by historical knowledge. However, there are many 'unknowns' about the legal and social standing of such a marriage, as people shall demonstrate especially in regard to its consequences in terms of property. Such examples, enigmatic to current knowledge, are evidence of highly complex and perhaps confused legal questions touching issues also treated in Shakespeare's plays.
