HI 215 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Ecclesiastical Court
Document Summary
Agency is the ability to make and implement independent decisions concerning one"s life. Women in colonial la lived in a patriarchal society and were subject to male control, but. Related to efficacy, also known as the ability to influence outcomes they could also exercise more agency than usual. Yet note: there"s a gap between theory and practice (law and reality) Married women needed written permission from their husband to sell property, borrow or lend money, or serve as witnesses in transactions/testimonies. Married women owned their dowry; could not be seized for her husband"s debts. Courts routinely allowed women to file cases against their husbands for abuse, support. Many women were commonly abandoned by their husbands and lived alone or with their and even divorce without his permission family and thus, were not under the direct control of their spouse. Spousal abandonment was rife and reflected the use of marriage for estate creation or perpetuation.
