Family, Gender, and Law in Early Modern France

Family, Gender, and Law in Early Modern France is a very well-conceptualized and extremely coherent volume, offering an excellent introduction to recent trends and new directions in the field of family history in early modern France. Michael Breen,Reed College This is an important and timely collection that opens new lines of inquiry into the history of the family in early modern Europe. Mary Trouille American Historical Review An excellent primer for those new to the field of family history in early modern France. . . . For those teaching a French culture and civilization course, Family, Gender, and Law in Early Modern France is a worthy resource. It helps to set the stage for understanding what occurred in France before and after the Old Regime, and fosters a greater appreciation for what predecessors desired in a civil society. Eileen M. Angelini French Review This is a superb collection of essays which sheds important new light on the ever-growing field of the history of the family. Jeffrey R. Watt English Historical Review This is one of those rare edited volumes greater than the sum of its parts. Each chapter is a fine work of historical synthesis, document analysis or close archival research. Yet, together, the essays paint a rich picture of marriage and family life in early modern France, uncovering startling new facets beneath old assumptions. Jennifer J. Davis European History Quarterly

Suzanne Desan is Professor of History at the University of WisconsinMadison. Jeffrey Merrick is Professor of History at the University of WisconsinMilwaukee.

Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Making and Breaking Marriage: An Overview of Old Regime Marriage as a Social Practice Suzanne Desan 2. Marriage Choice and Marital Success: Reasoning About Marriage, Love, and Happiness Dena Goodman 3. Family Affairs: Wives, Credit, Consumption, and the Law in Old Regime France Clare Crowston 4. Between State and Street: Witnesses and the Family Politics of Litigation in Early Modern France Julie Hardwick 5. Marital Conflict in Political Context: Langeac vs. Chambonas, 1775 Jeffrey Merrick 6. Gender, Kin, and Guardianship in Early Modern Burgundy Christopher Corley 7. On the Contested Margins of the Family: Bastardy and Legitimation by Royal Rescript in Eighteenth-Century France Matthew Gerber Suggested Readings Contributors Index