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Family, Property, And Negotiations Of Authority: Francoise Brulart And The Estate Management Of Noble Women In Early Modern Burgundy, Amy Kathleen Rogers Dean

Open Access Dissertations

There is no question that early modern France was a patriarchal society. In fact, during this period, there was an increase in legislation further subordinating women under the authority of their fathers and then of their husbands. The legal identities of women as daughters and wives was officially negligible. However, this dissertation argues that in practice, family needs trumped the constricting legal prescriptions placed upon women. In examining the estate accounts, contracts, and family papers of the Saulx-Tavanes, Brulart, Le Goux, Joly, Marmier, and Baissey families, it is abundantly clear that women of both the noblesse de robe and noblesse …