Merry Wiesner Hanks has published several books on women in early modern Europe, including Christianity and Sexuality in the Early Modern World (Routledge, 2000) and is the co-editor of the Sixteenth Century Journal. She is Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin/Milwaukee. Monica Chojnacka is the author of Working Women of Early Modern Venice (2001). She is Associate Professor of History at the University of Georgia.

• Geographic table of contents.  Introduction  I. CHILDHOOD 1. Birth and Infancy 2. Education and training 3. Orphans 4. Inheritance  II. YOUTH, SEXUALITY, AND THE SINGLE LIFE 5. Advanced Education 6. Restrictions on single people 7. Sexuality 8. Images of Youth  III. COURTSHIP, LOVE, AND WEDDINGS 9. Choosing a spouse 10. Engagement negotiations 11. Marriage contracts and agreements 12. Love 13. Weddings  IV. MARRIED LIFE 14. Definitions of marital status 15. Love and companionship 16. Marriage as partnership 17. Conflict  V. ECONOMIC LIFE 18. Ownership and management of property and goods 19. Sales and trade 20. Production 21. Medical care 22. Servants, soldiers, and slaves  VI. RELIGION 23. Defining and maintaining orthodoxy 24. Religious activities 25. Competing traditions  VII. NETWORKS 26. Family bonds 27. Friendship networks and neighborhoods 28. Professional networks 29. Religious communities 30. Conflict  VIII. WIDOWHOOD AND OLD AGE 31. Carrying on the family business 32. Widows and widowers as financial administrators 33. Widowhood, age, and power 34. Hardship.  List of Contributors.