Adulteresses, Mistresses and Prostitutes: Extramarital Relationships in Medieval Castile
1984; American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese; Volume: 67; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/342101
ISSN2153-6414
Autores Tópico(s)Marriage and Sexual Relationships
Resumoily, for the nascent capitalism of the Middle Ages could not afford to neglect the resources these capable women offered. In their husbands' absences, wives often ran family businesses, acting as agents. Others worked with their spouses as partners. Indeed, some women were trained by their fathers or husbands and themselves specialized in certain crafts. If the head of a family died prematurely, to guarantee the possession of the business to his heirs and to prevent a possibly tragic financial situation, women were allowed by the guilds to continue in their husband's trade and were given most of the prerogatives of master craftsmen. These activities were usually only permitted for women who belonged to a man, be he father or husband.' For a variety of reasons, other women were forced to live outside the law. Adultery, that is adultery committed by a wife, was a serious transgression punishable by law. All relevant laws were clearly prejudicial to married women. A wife was forbidden to even accuse a guilty husband in the courts because his offence allegedly caused her no dishonor and because she would not bear responsibility for any illegitimate offspring of his. Conversely, the law codes severely punish the guilty woman and her partner. The Fuero juzgo, for example, would turn the adulterers over to the wronged husband, who could have both put to death.2 This same regulation is repeated in the thirteenth-century Fuero de Baeza.3 The Fuero de Miranda del Ebro advocated burning one or both of them.4 The Siete partidas of Alfonso el Sabio allowed not only the wronged husband to punish the guilty wife and lover, but also permitted her father to do so.5 This late thirteenth-century law code is nevertheless more lenient than its predecessors: although men were to be killed, adulteresses could receive a lighter sentence consisting of a public beating, incarceration in a convent and deprivation of all dower rights (S.P., vII, xvii, 15). These laws reflect the medieval world's fear
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