ABSTRACT
Economic documents are some of the fullest sources we have for early modern women, yet they are also amongst the most problematic. Only a small proportion of women had sufficient property for it to be recorded in marriage settlements, wills, or inventories. The economic life of those without property is often revealed only in times of great need, through the medium of officers of the parish and the law. And for women of all social statuses, marriage was legally understood to remove much of their right to hold and use their own property.
