ABSTRACT
In early modern societies, the 'proper' making of the conjugal bond involved a 'precarious balance' between the canonical model of consensual marriage and parental authority. When parents and children were in open conflict, the will of the children and parental authority constituted forceful opponents, disrupting domestic and neighbourhood life. When different or even opposing interests had to be negotiated, marriage formation, as the authors have seen, carried a potential for household conflict: patrician parents, in particular, had property transactions, social and political networks and social status in mind when marrying their children. Descriptions of the characters involved in the litigation also reinforced this impression: plaintiffs and witnesses portrayed parents as cruel, vindictive and frightening, and as ruling over shy, intimidated and frightened children. Litigants' narratives and complaints about extreme violence, physical coercion and unsound marital plans did not end here. In the end the 'fear and force' through which parents and guardians attempted to realise their marital plans often backfired.
