The Transmission of Well-being: Gendered Marriage Strategies and Inheritance Systems in Europe (17th-20th Centuries)
, by Duraes, Margarida; Fauve-chamoux, Antoinette; Ferrer, Llorenc; Kok, JanNote: Supplemental materials are not guaranteed with Rental or Used book purchases.
- ISBN: 9783034300568 | 3034300565
- Cover: Paperback
- Copyright: 6/15/2009
What does ‘well-being’ mean when we talk about men and women in the past? Their sheer chances of survival, their protection from want, their social status, their individual agency and their self-esteem were all strongly mediated by the family, the predominant social institution. Family laws and customs of family formation created differences between insiders and outsiders in terms of well-being. Within families, there were strong differences in autonomy, status and freedom between the genders and generations. The book offers a fascinating exploration of gender differences in well-being in many regions of historic Europe, with some comparative perspectives. It explores how historic family systems differed with respect to choosing a marriage partner, transmitting property, living and care conditions of widows and widowers and the position of children born out of wedlock.