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Women and the “Second Serfdom”: Evidence from Early Modern Bohemia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2012

Sheilagh Ogilvie  and
Jeremy Edwards
Sheilagh Ogilvie
Affiliation:
Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge CB3 9DD, U.K.
Jeremy Edwards
Affiliation:
Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge CB3 9DD, U.K.
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Abstract

This article investigates women's position in early modem Bohemia by focusing on female household headship, which was very low by European standards. Empirical analysis suggests that the factors hypothesized in the literature as influencing female economic independence in preindustrial Europe had little effect in Bohemia. Instead, it appears that the decline in female headship between 1591 and 1722 was a consequence of the growing power of landlords under the “second serfdom.” Not only did landlords eject female heads as poor fiscal risks, but landlord decisions were also manipulated by village communities and individual serfs for their own ends.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 60 , Issue 4 , December 2000 , pp. 961 - 994
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 2000

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