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Cover; Half-title; Title; Copyright; Contents; Introduction: Speech, Gender, and Power in Late Medieval England; The Status of Late Medieval English Women: ''Golden Age'' vs. ''Patriarchal Equilibrium''; Scholarship on Speech and Scolding; How We Know about Illicit Speech; 1. ''Sins of the Tongue'' and Social Change; ''Sins of the Tongue'' and the State; The Popularization of the ''Sins of the Tongue''; Common Associations among ''Sins of the Tongue''; 2. The Sins of Women's Tongues in Literature and Art; Women's Voices in Prescriptive Literature and Art. Women's Voices in Narrative Art and LiteratureWomen and Good Speech; 3. Women's Voices and the Law; Hues and Cries; Defamation; The Emergence of Scolding as a Legal Category; Scolding as a Female Crime; 4. Men's Voices; Men's Voices and the Risk of Effeminacy; Swearwords as Deeds; Male Speech as Deeds in the Courts; Male Scolds; 5. Communities and Scolding; Definitions of Scolding and Elements of the Crime; Jurisdictional Variation; Sensitive Officials; Geographic and Administrative Connections; 6. Who Was a Scold?; Scolding and Marital Status; Scolding and Socioeconomic Status. Scolding and Other CrimesConclusion: Consequences of the Feminization of Deviant Speech; Consequences for Individuals: The Punishment of Scolds; Broader Consequences: Women's Voices and Women's Power; Why Illicit Speech Was Feminized; Notes; Bibliography; Index; Acknowledgments