Royal Bastards - McDougall, Sara (Associate Professor, Associate Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the CUNY Graduate Center)

The stigmatization as 'bastards' of children born outside of wedlock is commonly thought to have emerged early in Medieval European history, but Sara McDougall demonstrates that until well into the late twelfth century a child's prospects depended more upon the social status and lineage of both parents than of the legitimacy of their marriage.