Generous provisions or legitimate shares? Widows and the transfer of property in 17th-century Holland
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12447368 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ariadne Schmidt (0000-0001-5591-0237, International Institute of Social History, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2010 |
| Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 13-24 |
| Publication date | 2010-02-22 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The History of the Family (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1081-602X • E-ISSN: 1873-5398 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.hisfam.2010.01.004 |
| OpenAlex | W2022897312 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
| References cited | 23 |
This article addresses the role of inheritance in the economic well-being of widows in early modern urban Holland. It discusses marital property law and inheritance law, as well as inheritance practices, by analysing marriage contracts and wills. The egalitarian distribution of property and the strong commitment to the nuclear family embedded in law was strengthened by wills. Widows benefited from these tendencies. A comparison with English law points to the strong position of Dutch widows. The legal system enabled widows to continue the household after the death of their spouses and in this respect their situation was remarkably similar to that of widowers. Keywords: Early modern periodEnglandHollandMarital property and inheritance lawWidowhood Acknowledgments This paper is a strongly revised version of Schmidt (Citation2001b). The author wishes to thank Amy Erickson and the anonymous referees of this journal for their comments upon earlier versions of this paper. Notes 1 An exception was made for feudal property, see below. 2 For inheritance law in the northern parts of the Dutch Republic, see Hempenius-van Dijk (Citation1995). 3 The research presented in the following sections is based upon the analysis of sample sets of 133 marriage settlements, 192 wills made by married couples and 115 wills made by widows in Leiden between 1590 and 1680. I selected all preserved marriage contracts (33), all mutual wills (99) and all wills of widows made up before a notary in the year 1622 and supplemented this set with contracts and wills randomly selected from the notarial archive with an interval of 10years (1590–1680). It is difficult to assess the proportion of people who chose to make their own disposition, but they constituted just a small minority. As Leiden counted c. 44745 inhabitants in 1622, it is unlikely that this number of documents represents the actual number of marriage contracts and wills made up in that year (Lourens & Lucassen, Citation1997, p. 113). 4 RAL, ORA, 76D; NA 19, 28, 38, 55, 64, 69, 77, 83, 91, 102, 135, 136, 139, 140, 160, 181, 182, 190, 208, 217, 283, 291, 316, 354, 394, 404, 443, 453, 473, 502, 538, 404, 443, 671, 796, 718, 806, 881, 900, 989, 1050, 1155, 1242, 1282. 5 RAL, NA 19, 28, 38, 55, 64, 77, 91, 102, 120, 135, 136, 139, 140, 160, 181, 182, 190, 206, 208, 217, 283, 291, 292, 306, 316, 394, 404, 473, 483, 502, 538, 671, 718, 806, 825, 881, 900, 989, 1050, 1155, 1242 en 1282. The small proportion of wills made by married men in 1622 shows a preference for mutual wills. See also footnote Footnote3. 6 A sample set of wills of widows: RAL, NA 18, 19, 20, 28, 38, 55, 64, 77, 91, 102, 120, 135, 136, 139, 140, 160, 182, 190, 206, 208, 217, 291, 306, 316, 394, 404, 453, 473, 483, 502, 538, 671, 718, 806, 825, 881, 900, 989, 1050, 1155, 1242, 1282, 1299. See also footnote Footnote3. 7 Regionaal Archief Leiden (RAL) Oud Rechterlijk Archief (ORA), no. 76D. (Oud) Notarieel Archief (NA), nos. 18, 19, 20, 28, 38, 55, 64, 69, 77, 83, 91, 102, 120, 135, 136, 139, 140, 160, 181, 182, 190, 192, 206, 208, 217, 283, 291, 292, 306, 316, 354, 394, 404, 443, 453, 473, 483, 502, 538, 671, 718, 796, 806, 825, 881, 900, 989, 1050, 1155, 1242, 1282, 1299. Stadsarchief II (SAII) nr. 87
Archaeology · Feudalism · Genealogy · Human settlement · Inheritance (genetic algorithm · Political science · Property (philosophy · Settlor · Sociology · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Historical Legal Studies and Society · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · History · Law · Philosophy
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| Unique citing works | 9 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,69 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2025 (13) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 9 |