ABSTRACT
Early modern society was hierarchical and patriarchal, and these notions about social order extended down to the smallest units, the household, the family, and marriage. Men and women could only be full members of society after they had married and established a household together. For the members of the urban middle and upper-middle classes, this usually meant that the man had to set up his own business as a master craftsman or as a merchant to be able to provide for his family. The housefather was at the top of the social hierarchy within the household, and he represented the household to the authorities. Social expectations, legal norms, and religious values reinforced each other to establish an ideal-type image of the relationships between the members of a household. The daughter’s life is even more predictable. She needs to prepare to become a housewife herself by learning the skills and duties necessary from her mother.
