Divided Loyalties: Negotiating Marital Separation in the Cavendish-Talbot Family c.1575–90
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
see attached
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
Point 1: The historiographical paragraph at the top of page 3 does not hang together well and could be reworked to give more sense of direction. There could also be some mention of Lawrence Stone’s pioneering trilogy on early modern marital discord among the elite (Road to Divorce, Broken Lives, Uncertain Unions).
Response 1: I have reorganised the first two paragraphs of the historiography section. The first considers historical reseach on wives and marital status. The second assesses the historiography of legal separation, including a reference to the Stone trilogy.
Point 2: It is likely that, as argued here, Gilbert resented his financial dependence on his father. He already had a wife and family to support, and insufficient means to do so adequately. It would be worth explaining that this was a common scenario in elite families, with a male heir often heavily in debt and resentful of his father’s parsimony. The author does not raise this as a possible factor in the case of Henry Cavendish, also an eldest son, who had a cool relationship with his mother. Did Henry also feel ill-used?
Response 2: The comment about an heir in debt being a common scenario has been added to p. 11. P. 20 reflects on Henry's poor relationship with his mother. I have not found any references in the selected letters to his financial situation.
Point 3: Spelling and grammatical errors
Response 3: All corrected.
Reviewer 2 Report
typos: footnote 19; line 371; line 380;
it is worth modernizing the spelling of quotations
Author Response
Point 1: typos: footnote 19; line 371; line 380;
Response 1: I cannot see a typo in footnote 19. Line 371 and 380 corrected.
Point 2: it is worth modernizing the spelling of quotations
Response 2: After discussion with the issue editor, I have left quotations in the spelling of the original manuscript, or in the edited version cited.
