5 quite interesting readings from the book Ages of Woman and Ages of Man
Regulations of a City Brothel (Law State and Church)
In the 1500's prostitution began to have regulatoins set on it. In this essay it appears that although prostitution was looked down on, it was accepted. The article outlines the new regulations placed on brothel owners: whores should be treated fairly, not sold brought by brothel managers; whores should not be indebted to the brothel, but should be able to repay the debts of food and broad through their labor. This gives an idea that people "may have had difficulty regarding sexual realtions outside of marriage as a sin".
Love Poem Demography (courtship)
Marriage in early modern Europe was still heavily reliant on "love" from both constituents. The poem talks of a "villa, a female spirit that inhabits streams and forests, ensaring the affection of naive men". This poem gives a few into the ideas of courtship and romance before marriage.
Letter from Nobleman his wife in Denmark ( Family relationships and family Economics)
This letter explains that the husband is away from his castle gathering men to fight for the king, in his absence the wife is in charge of " doing what [she ] thinks best with the business." Also the tone of the letter is not one of superiority, but more of equality. The husband and the wife are equal partners in the marriage relationship. This letter was written in 1502 and gives an inside look into the husband wife relationship in aristocratic families.
Battle for the Pants Germany late fifteenth century (family relationships)
A painting in the fifteenth century depicting a man on his knees reaching for pants on the ground while his wife is standing over him holding back his hand with her left hand and carrying distaff in the other hand raised in the air. This depicts the struggel taking place for control in the household and as this painting shows, the men no longer ruled house.
Petition to the king and queen, Denmark c. 1487 (Demography, Family relationships)
Petition made by a widow to the king and queen asking for money. She wanted to travel to Germany to find a journey man who can make saddles and other things to carry on the business of her dead husband. This shows the nuclear family setting, that when a spouse dies there are no others to support the remaining spouse. This also shows that women have a social status enough to write petition to the king and queen for help.
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4 comments:
I disagree with the interpretation of the painting of the husband and wife. Rather than viewing this as a depiction of widespread practice of husbands no longer controlling the household perhaps it is a criticism of men who cannot or refuse to fulfill their role at the head of the house.
We discussed briefly in class the idea that the family was far more private or free from outside control. Professor Harris suggested that if a man was not fulfilling his duties he would be criticized by neighbors and that social pressure would impress men and women as to their expected roles.
Karyann Doty
I actually agree with the interpretation written in the blog post. Most often a battle is depicted as a struggle between two opposing forces that desire the same territory etc. Applying this concept to this painting shows that the man is not necessarily unable to fulfill his male role (head of the household), but that the woman is wanting more from her role within the household. Although I agree that there was social expectations for the men to be the ideal head, I think that a majority of the men fulfilled their roles.
I agree with you on how it would be hard not to have sexual relations outside of marriage when brothels were legal. I think it's interesting to note that brothel owners can't sell ther workers when the concept of a brothel is selling bodies. It is also interesting to note that brothel owners couldn't force their workers to work. I am curious about things such as birth control at that time and how the workers kept from getting pregnant.
Patty
In the letter from the Danish nobleman to his wife, I found it interesting that the nobleman's wife was left in command even though her father was also present. I agree that the tone of the letter is one of equality, which suggests that the wife wasn't left in command just because her father wasn't as capable or something of that sort, but because it was simply expected that the wife would be left to hold down the fort. It seems as though men were usually given the leadership positions at this time, but this letter gives evidence that the husband-wife connections were given a higher priority.
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