Mujeres - History Lab

Misery in the women’s prison of Saragossa (1797)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:33:11 +0000

In the women’s prison in Saragossa, which housed inmates from that Kingdom and the Basque Provinces, abuses and punishments were carried out, according to Pedro María Ric, Mayor of Crime of the Court of Aragon. Pedro María was also Judge Protector of the Real Casa de la Galera in Zaragoza. In his attempt to improve the conditions of the prisoners, he proposed that the Archbishopric of Saragossa allocate 3,000 ducats for this purpose on a permanent basis, an objective that was approved by the Council of Castile.

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Preliminary inventory of the assets of María Vicenta de Barrenechea Castaños

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:37 +0000

Preliminary inventory of the estate of María Vicenta de Barrenechea Castaños. Personal belongings of the daughter of José Fernando de Barrenechea y Novia de Salcedo, II Marquis of El Puerto, and Ana María Morante de la Madrid y Castejón, Marchioness of La Solana

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Wedding dowries and down payment

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:26 +0000

The dowry and the arras were two legal institutions that represented the contributions made by the husband and wife to the marriage. The dowry was the estate that the woman took with her when she married, which she received from her parents and which, although it was the wife’s property, would be administered by the husband for the duration of the marriage. It was common, especially in the upper classes, for families to go into debt in order to dowry their daughters in order to provide for their social advancement or to strengthen their social networks. The dowry could be made up of a variety of movable or immovable goods, or even public jobs. This would depend on the social origin of the women, with movable goods being more common in the case of maids, for example, and real estate in the case of women from wealthy families. In all cases, there would have been a trousseau, consisting of furniture, bed and table linen and household goods. The arras, on the other hand, was a donation made by the husband to the wife, which is interpreted as a contribution made for having access to the female body and the rights over the offspring. The work in the image, entitled “The Bride’s Dowry”, by José Gallegos y Arnosa, represents the formalisation of these contributions.

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The money changer and his wife

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:26 +0000

In the new bourgeois societies, women were a fundamental support for their husbands in the task of collecting and accumulating money. They took part in the accounting of their husbands’ businesses and, in many cases, were in demand as accountants by merchant houses, accustomed as they were to the control of account books. Bourgeois women, without forgetting their role as mothers and wives, developed an economic-administrative activity acting on behalf of their husbands, but also when they were widowed or took over the inheritance of a prematurely deceased father. They handled rents and lent money in a historical phase in which money was an instrument for the accumulation of wealth.

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Market

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:26 +0000

The women were actively involved in the work as saleswomen, as well as in agricultural and livestock tasks and in the transformation of the products generated by the economy. As well as working as poultry, fish or vegetable sellers, they also occupied positions as innkeepers or bakers. The age of the women implied the development of a different activity. The laws, on the other hand, placed limits on the exercise of certain jobs according to age or marital status. This image allows us to approach history from a female perspective, as it makes women visible in areas other than the domestic sphere, carrying out professional activities.

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Recua and gypsies in a forest

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:19 +0000

This oil on copper by the Flemish painter Jan Brueghel the Elder dates from the early 16th century, when his views, forests and panoramic landscapes became more realistic and his work is rich in details of great technical quality. Throughout the 17th century nature had become the ideal setting for the depiction of gypsies, a wandering group that had been moving around Europe since the early 1400s. Brueghel depicts the subject by depicting a lush forest in the foreground, to the left of which opens diagonally into a wide valley painted in blue. The gypsy women are strategically positioned on a path of obligatory passage that allows them to approach passers-by and their wares. The one seated with the child in her arms covers her head with a bern, a circular hat made of a wicker base and interwoven fabrics, which was very characteristic of Gypsy women’s clothing until the mid-17th century. The rest of the women wear a simple scarf tied around their heads. Although Gypsy women were usually barefoot, Brueghel depicted them wearing shoes, with the exception of the boy who walks without shoes. Several of them carry walking sticks to help them on their way.

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Recent graduate of a Lady B.A. of London University

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:09 +0000

This engraving, signed by Arthur Hupkins, appears in The Graphic seven years after the University of London became the first in Britain to admit women in 1878. In 1885, around 10% of graduates from this university were women and this figure would grow to 30% by 1900. Despite these figures, by the end of the 19th century, most girls left school at around the age of 11, destined for work in factories, domestic service or marriage. Even in the higher social classes, formal education for women would not be a priority, but getting a favourable marriage would be.

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16th century Spanish dresses

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:30:03 +0000

This resource includes a total of 23 prints depicting the traditional Spanish clothing of 16th century society. In them, the clothing of men and women from different social and economic backgrounds can be analysed.

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Queen Margaret’s livery expenses (1600-1611)

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:56 +0000

From the time of Isabella of Valois, the stables acquired an important place in the royal households, as it was the section responsible for the public representation of the monarch or queen. It became their representative vehicle, and its organisational model evolved from the chivalric and medieval court to the courtly court. In 1599 Margaret of Austria-Styria married Philip III, son of Philip II. From then on, the stables of the new queen played a prominent role within the royal household with a large and specialised department, although less so than that of her royal husband. The resource deals with the expenses of Queen Margaret’s stable between 1600 and 1611, the year of her death. With an approximate expenditure of 17,625,000 maravedies in 1601, the main items were for dresses, carriages, provisions, salaries and ordinary and extraordinary expenses. After this first year, both the budget and expenditure increased, reaching its highest point in 1607. The growth of ordinary expenditure was exponential, while that for medicines and horseshoes remained constant throughout his reign. Salaries also increased in direct proportion to the number of courtiers and servants who staffed the queen’s stables. Extraordinary expenditure was, by its very nature, the one that showed the most ups and downs, decreasing when all the others were increasing.

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Proportions of Unmarried Women by Age and Date, 1787

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:29:48 +0000

Nuptiality is a demographic variable of great importance that has often been neglected in favour of the study of mortality or fertility. Its significance as a reproductive institution obtains a relevant meaning where fertility control within marriage is null or moderate. In this sense, it is necessary to specify how marriage is one of the most determining vital acts in the social sphere. In traditional societies, marriage practice was mediated by access to land, inheritance or some other significant form of livelihood. Looking at marital engagement behaviour, it is very similar between rural and urban areas at younger ages; at older ages, urban areas show important differences in the proportion of unmarried women. However, the mean age at marriage in 1787 is substantially the same in rural and urban areas, slightly higher for urban males (25.6 vs. 25.1) and slightly lower for urban females (23.2 vs. 23.8)

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