Testamente din Moldova veacului al XVIII-lea: autoritatea și vulnerabilitatea femeii
Wills from eighteenth-century Moldavia: Women`s authority and vulnerability

Summary/Abstract: In a male-dominated world as it was the situation in Moldavia (but also in Wallachia) in Early Modern Age, the women had already same protection regarding their rights, according the codes of law, as well as the custom: they (the women) were able to inherit land, to sell it or buy it, to ask for divorce, or to become the head of the family (when their spouses died). However, a large number of documents shows that the relationship between man and woman (husband and wife) was one of subordination and inferiority. In most cases the husband dictated the course of actions and imposed his own terms. In this particular context, the present research intends to analyse some cases and situations in order to underline women social position, if and how their actions were or were not limited. Relying on some widows` testaments (Anița Ruset, Maria Capșa, Ilinca Palade), the purpose of the present research is to see the way women act in this masculine context.

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