Women in European History

15th – 17th Centuries

RenaissanceReformation

Renaissance

MarriageSocial classImportant rulersWitches

Marriage & Family

Nuclear familyEconomic foundationAge – under 20, men – mid to late 20sInfanticideDivorce was very limitedSexual double standardMore prostitution

Social Class

Wealthy womenIncreased access to educationOrnaments to husbands

Important Women

Isabella I Mary TudorElizabeth I Catherine de MediciChristine de PisanIsabella d’Este

Witches

1484 – officially made witchcraft part of Church dogmaOlder women, mid-wives, single

Reformation

Protestant v Catholic

Protestant

HomemakerCompanionate marriageIncreased literacySex is good in marriage

Catholic

Women had opportunities in religious ordersNo divorce

18th Century

Agricultural RevolutionIndustrial RevolutionEnlightenmentFrench Revolution

Agricultural Revolution Effects

Enclosure movementGrowth of cottage industryurbanization-domestic work, prostitution, autonomy

Industrial Revolution

Factory workFamily wage economy

Marriage & Family

Based more on loveAge – late 20sGrowing pop of single middle class womenChildcare – nurture/spoilSmaller familiesIncrease in illegitimate births

Enlightenment

Decrease in witch huntsOrganized salonsDifficulty embracing enlightenment ideology for women’s freedom

French Revolution

Bread riots (March on Versailles)Olympe de Gouges, The Rights of WomenMary Wollstonecraft, A vindication of theh Rights of WomanParticipation with sans-culottes

Napoleonic France

Women viewed as legal incompetentsFew rightsPatriarchal political system

19th Century

Marriage & FamilySocial roles

Marriage & Family

Romantic love idealSmall family, loving relationship with kidsMiddle class more aware economicallyIllegitimacy declinedMiddle class more dependent on parents

Social Roles

Spheres of work separated for men and womenVictorian ideal of domesticityWorking class – most worked outside homeMiddle class – organizing for women’s rightsMarxism – women are equally oppressed

Socialism and women

Catholic orders organized schools and hospitalsTemperanceEducationPeace

20th Century

Legal right to wages and propertyLegal right to work without husband’s permissionSome countries legalized divorceWomen’s suffrage (WWI)Fascist nations – traditional rolesPostwar – restricted in employment