title: Freely Given
author: Scarbrough, Jan
description: Take a step back in time when marriage choices were nearly non-existent for women. Noble marriages were arranged by king and family, not for love. What happened if the woman’s consent was not freely given?
  
  The Troubadour
  Courtly love, as sung by troubadours, was often a refuge for Medieval wives. Yet, its basis was fantasy, a far cry from the harsh realities of everyday life. Will an unwilling bride find courtly love and satisfy the longings of her romantic heart?
  The Novice
  Can a Medieval woman who doubts her vocation to the Church find true love in an arranged marriage?
  
  The Betrothed
  Marriage based on love was foreign to the Medieval mind. Yet consent had to be freely given for a marriage to be valid. Can a reluctant bride dare refuse her betrothed without suffering the consequences?
  
  The Duke
  A trip to the British museum in London catapults a modern exchange student back in time to a tragic life shrouded in secrecy, lust, and true love.