Widows in European Economy and Society, 1600-1920
Regular price
€107.99
A01=Beatrice Moring
A01=Richard Wall
anthropology
Author_Beatrice Moring
Author_Richard Wall
Category=JBSF1
Category=NHD
Category=NHTB
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
European history
European women
gender and women's studies
government
patriarchy
sociology
women in the economy
women in the family
women's history
women's rights
Product details
- ISBN 9781783271771
- Weight: 668g
- Dimensions: 156 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 17 Feb 2017
- Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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A deeply researched and geographically wide-ranging study that reveals that widows were much more economically and socially active than is often thought.
2017 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title
"A terrific piece of work". JANE HUMPHRIES, Professor of Economic History and Fellow of All Souls College, University of Oxford
Widows are often viewed as being marginalised in society, struggling to make a living and in need of financial and other support. However, as this extensively researched and wide-ranging book reveals, widows did, in fact, engage very effectively in economic activity, often being in charge of families, households and commercial enterprises. The book outlines how extensive widowhood was; examines the provisions made for the support of widows, including in the form of marriage contracts, dowries andcharitable assistance; and provides numerous examples of widows being economically active, paying their way and involving themselves energetically in society - one notable example being Barbe-Nicole Clicquot, who established a very successful company producing La Veuve Clicquot champagne. Using statistical analysis and individual case studies, the book contrasts the situation in different parts of Europe, and between rural and urban areas, and shows how provision for widows both in law and in practice evolved over time. Overall, it contributes a great deal to women's history, helping to correct the image that women were victims of male society, and to family history, showing thatexceptions to the "ideal" nuclear family were very common.
BEATRICE MORING is Associate Professor in the Department of Political and Economic Studies at the University of Helsinki.
RICHARD WALL was a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of History at the University of Essex.
BEATRICE MORING is an Associate Professor in Social and Economic History at the University of Helsinki and author of Widows in European Economy and Society, 1600-1920 (Boydell, 2017).
