This ground-breaking book reveals the economic reality of ordinary women between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. Drawing on little-known sources, Amy Louise Erickson reconstructs day-to-day lives, showing how women owned, managed and inherited property on a scale previously unrecognised. Her complex and fascinating research, which contrasts the written laws with the actual practice, completely revises the traditional picture of women's economic status in pre-industrial England. Women and Property is essential reading for anyone interested in women, law and the past.

Reviews

'A major contribution to our understanding of the early modern family.' - Katherine French, SUNY-New Paltz

'Amy Erickson has produced a rich and finely nuanced study of women and property in early modern England. ... This is an important work and its conclusions with regard to both theory and practice should modify facile stereotypes still present in the literature on women and the family in early modern times.' - Gender and History

'An impressive study ... a scholar of the first rank.' - Germaine Greer, The Guardian

'Extremely stimulating.' - Antonia Fraser, The Times

Book Information
ISBN 9780415133401
Author Amy Louise Erickson
Format Paperback
Page Count 324
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 468g