| Publication |
2013.
|
| Summary/Abstract |
In ancient and medieval western societies rights were prerogatives
enjoyed by the privileged minorities and by free men, as opposed to
slaves and bonded labour. By definition rights were thus unequally
distributed as males had more than women or children on whom within
their respective families, they had nearly absolute authority, just as
religious and land-owning (feudal) dignitaries held power over those
below them in the social hierarchy. Britain's coat of arms carries the
medieval motto: Dieu et mon droit, signifying "God and what I am
entitled to" by feudal or customary law or by divine right.
|