ABSTRACT
Even though many details of the case have been lost in the mists of time, this chapter provides material for analysing gender-based domestic violence in history. The chapter wants to pay attention to the structural and individual dimensions of spousal violence, i.e. the societal, legal and cultural practices that generate violence, as well as individual people's choices. The dynamics of historical spousal violence and domestic discipline can thus be exposed by examining the power structures within marriages and households, which were supported by legal and social constructs. Violence taking place between the master and mistress of a house was probably known to the children and servants or workers, but the hierarchical structure that regulated people's behaviour stopped them from intervening. Modern and postmodern concepts of violence are characterized by a denial of vulnerability, a degree of indifference towards victims and dismissal of the significance of gender, and increases the tendency to see domestic violence as an individual problem.
