ABSTRACT
On 6 May 1842 Theodore Janssen was granted a divorce from her husband Gerhard by the Cleve regional court under Article 231 of the Code civil that permitted a dissolution of marriage on the grounds of “cruelty, ill-treatment or serious insult”. 1 The couple had married eight years previously but within a few months Gerhard, who was a cabinet-maker by trade, developed a serious drink problem. Thereafter, Theodore testified, she was subjected to almost daily verbal and physical abuse until April 1838 when Gerhard, having lost all his customers on account of his drinking and therefore being unable to provide for his wife and children, deserted his family for his home town of Xanten and then proceeded across the border to Belgium. Theodore left to stay with her parents. Gerhard’s return to the area some four years later and his resumption of a regime of torment towards his wife prompted Theodore to take her marriage to the divorce court. 2
