NMCSU Lecture with Sara Verskin

Friendly Witnesses: Amplifying Women's Voices in Pre-Modern Islamic Courts

This talk will explore three legal cases: (1) an orphan girl in 14th century Algeria weighing a prospective marriage, (2) a young wife in 19th century Palestine seeking to annul her marriage, (3) an enslaved woman in 17th century Lebanon demanding freedom. We will read together descriptions of these cases and explore what they may be able to tell us about the women at the centre of these events and the support they sought from the people in their communities.