Testatrices Wills 4 5 6 8 1300–1350 1250–1300 6 7 1350–1400 4 4 1400–1450 12 13 1450–1500 7 9 1500–1520 39 46 Total anja thaller The compiled corpus comprises 46 testaments by 39 women (see Tables 1 and 2 in the appendix).16 Nearly two thirds of these wills have survived in original form,17 some as authentic contemporary copies, or as simple copies, recorded in cartularies or registers, for example.18 A few are known only from later copies or prints; some textual records are fragmented.19 Sorted into 50-year intervals, the following picture emerges: Compared to the second half of the 13th century, the number of wills increases from one every ten years to one in every 6.25 years in the 1300s. The distribution remains relatively even until a subsequent decline in the first half of the 15th century (one will every 12.5 years). The numbers triple after 1450 (one will every 3.8 years), which may be related to a general increase in literacy and better transmission. From 1500 onwards, there is a further significant rise (one every 2.2 years). Noblewomen’s wills belong to the heterogeneous category of ‘private charters’. The majority of the testaments studied here correspond to the Margaret of Savoy (†1479), see Zeiler 2023, pp. 305–310; Yolande of Lorraine (†1500), see Marburg, StA, Best. Urk. 1, no. 56. 16 The corpus may be extended by more detailed archival research, but the results obtained are nonetheless significant. 17 30 of 46 documents: nos. 2–6, 8, 10, 11, 12–19, 22, 28, 31, 32, 34, 36–39, 41, 43–46. 18 Authentic copies: nos. 26, 35; simple copies: nos. 20, 25, 27, 33, 40; copies in register or cartulary: nos. 9 and 21; engrossment of a concept: no. 24. 19 Later copies: no. 30 (authentic), 29 (simple), nos. 1 and 7 (print). About 25 % are still unedited. 59 Document Types, Layout and Material, Means of Authentication table1: Number of testatrices and their wills, distribution over time.
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