Domestic Violence in Medieval Texts addresses a topic critical to our understanding of the medieval past - its notions of childhood and marital relations, its attitudes toward corporal punishment, and its contribution to the shaping of our present-day notions of ""family values."" Using a wide range of late medieval narratives, including poetry, law, sermons, saints' lives, drama, and iconography, the authors explore the meaning and social effects of punitive violence within the domestic sphere.