ABSTRACT
Though it only lasted ten months in 1219–20, the uniquely well-documented widowhood of Isabel, countess of Pembroke allows the earliest exploration of the way that a great medieval heiress came into full possession of her inheritance, how she managed it, and how she had to accommodate the testamentary dispositions of her late husband. It brings to the fore the key relationship between a widow and her adult sons, the adversarial relationship of the widow with the deceased’s executors and indeed the question of the nature of the early testament itself in both England and France.
