The transmission of well-being : gendered marriage strategies and inheritance systems in Europe

by Margarida Durães (Editor), Antoinette Fauve-Chamoux (Editor), LIorenç Ferrer i Alòs (Editor)

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.

525 pages, Paperback

First published October 5, 2009

About the author

Licenciada em História pela Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto (1979) e doutorada em História Moderna e Contemporânea, pela Universidade do Minho (2001), onde é Professora Auxiliar com Agregação, do Departamento de História, desde 2008.
É investigadora do Centro de Investigação Transdisciplinar Cultura, Espaço e Memória (CITCEM-FLUP) e, em 2001, recebeu o Prémio Alberto Sampaio para o melhor trabalho desenvolvido no âmbito da História Económica e Social. Além de vários artigos e capítulos de livros, é autora das obras Herança e sucessão: leis, práticas e costumes no termo de Braga (séculos XVIII-XIX) (Braga: [s.n.], 2000, tese de doutoramento) e A rainha mal-amada: Amélia de Orleães (Lisboa: Círculo de Leitores, 2012).