Women, Production, and Patriarchy in Late Medieval Cities
9780226355047
9780226355061
Women, Production, and Patriarchy in Late Medieval Cities
In this bold reinterpretation of Women’s changing labor status during the late medieval and early modern period, Martha C. Howell argues that women’s work was the product of the intersection of two systems, one cultural and one economic. Howell shows forcefully that patriarchal family structure, not capitalist development per se, was a decisive factor in determining women’s work. Women could enjoy high labor status if they worked within a family production unit or if their labor did not interfere with their domestic responsibilities or threaten male control of a craft or trade.
332 pages | 1 line drawing | 6 x 9 | © 1986
Table of Contents
Foreword, by Catharine R. Stimpson
Preface
Introduction
Part 1: Women’s Work in Medieval Cities of Northern Europe
1. A Framework for Understanding Women’s Work
The Northern European Family and the Household Economy
Labor Status in Urban Market Economies
2. The Sex-Gender System and Economic Systems
The Family Production Unit
Late Medieval Market Production
An Agenda for Research
Part Two: Empirical Studies: Leiden and Cologne
3. The Socioeconomic Structure of Leiden
The History of the Drapery
Politics and Government
The Size and Structure of the Drapery
Small Commodity Production
4. Women’s Work in Leiden’s Market Production
Locating Women Workers in the Textile Industry
Women’s Work in and Around Leiden
Patterns of Women’s Work: The Organization of Market Production
5. The Socioeconomic Structure of Cologne
The Problem of Sources
Economic and Constitutional Background
The Transformation of Fifteenth-Century Cologne
Capitalism in Cologne: A Debate
Capitalism in Cologne: The Consequences
6. Women’s Work in Cologne’s Market Production
The Women’s Guilds
The Traditional Guilds
Women in Export-Import Trade
Patterns and Explanations
Part 3: Points of Intersection
7. The Comparative Perspective: Lier, Douai, Frankfurt am Main
8. Women’s Work and Social Change
Women’s Work and Socioeconomic Change
Women’s Work and the Patriarchal Order
Appendixes
1. Income from Leiden’s Strikerye
2. Archival Sources for Leiden
3. Population of Leiden in 1498
Notes
Works Cited
Index
Preface
Introduction
Part 1: Women’s Work in Medieval Cities of Northern Europe
1. A Framework for Understanding Women’s Work
The Northern European Family and the Household Economy
Labor Status in Urban Market Economies
2. The Sex-Gender System and Economic Systems
The Family Production Unit
Late Medieval Market Production
An Agenda for Research
Part Two: Empirical Studies: Leiden and Cologne
3. The Socioeconomic Structure of Leiden
The History of the Drapery
Politics and Government
The Size and Structure of the Drapery
Small Commodity Production
4. Women’s Work in Leiden’s Market Production
Locating Women Workers in the Textile Industry
Women’s Work in and Around Leiden
Patterns of Women’s Work: The Organization of Market Production
5. The Socioeconomic Structure of Cologne
The Problem of Sources
Economic and Constitutional Background
The Transformation of Fifteenth-Century Cologne
Capitalism in Cologne: A Debate
Capitalism in Cologne: The Consequences
6. Women’s Work in Cologne’s Market Production
The Women’s Guilds
The Traditional Guilds
Women in Export-Import Trade
Patterns and Explanations
Part 3: Points of Intersection
7. The Comparative Perspective: Lier, Douai, Frankfurt am Main
8. Women’s Work and Social Change
Women’s Work and Socioeconomic Change
Women’s Work and the Patriarchal Order
Appendixes
1. Income from Leiden’s Strikerye
2. Archival Sources for Leiden
3. Population of Leiden in 1498
Notes
Works Cited
Index