ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a summary of the evolution of customs of Brittany, from the origin of the Custom to its reform in 1580. It concentrates on the practices of Brittany in the merchant sector and in particular in the region of Nantes. The chapter explores the example of parental power and marital authority, their evolutions and the means of 'doing away with' them by analysing two kinds of documents: suppliques for parental power and powers of attorney for marital authority. If girls and boys both submitted to parental power, only the girls passed under another form of authority when they got married: that of their spouse. A legal instrument enabled married women to loosen the grip of marital authority: it is called marital authorisation. The power of attorney was an ideal legal instrument to answer the needs of merchants who were absent for business reasons; in that case, their wives may act as true businesswomen associated to their trade.
