ABSTRACT
Obviously, there were also wives acting aggressively towards their husbands, yet it is to be assumed that the majority of these cases never ended up in court since they would have seriously questioned the male honour code (Liliequist, 2011, pp. 3-4). Though it was “unmanly” to beat up a woman, a “reasonable correction” was rather something expected from him (Walker, 2003, pp. 49-52, 63-66). According to contemporary understanding the latter was merely an expression of legitimate potestas, and could therefore not be condemned as violentia. On the other hand, since Carolina lacks paragraphs concerning non-lethal violence, these issues were interpreted through territorial customs (Schwerhoff, 2004, pp. 230-231, 235, 237). Domestic castigation and public punishments were intended to subjugate the individual whose behaviour – or rumours related to it – offended the male head of the family or threatened the collective stability. Therefore, they were not seen as abuse or violence but just means of chastisement.
