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 Literature -- Women 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 Crimes -- Conclusion: 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.