A Woman’s Life

How can historians disagree when they are working with the same sources?

By George Bristow

Historians disagree about the lives of married woman in the period 1500-1750. Some historians think this: ‘Married woman from the sixteenth and seventh centuries had a very unfair time. They were often treated badly such as being hit, slapped and swore at if they did not do as they were instructed by their husbands, you see wives had to do as their partners told them, wives were not allowed to do what they wanted. They used all their time looking after their families. Men were often strict so as to keep their wives under control.’ I’ll refer to that as interpretation 1. Other historians think this: ‘Married women were quite free; they were the ones who went to market! Married women also seemed to have the time to put on make up! Men and women were often equal partners in marriage. Husbands were very loving and caring to their wives, even though women did not always do as they were asked.’ That can be interpretation 2.

Domestic conduct books and advice manuals can be used to support both interpretations. On one hand there is the Christian Oeconomoicks pamphlet on domestic conduct, which says things such as; Men should have power over their wives, wives should obey their husbands. On the other hand the same pamphlet also says that Men should respect their wives, men should never hit their wives and men should take advice from their wives. Then again in the Boke of Husbandry by Anthony Fitzherbert, which was written in 1523 it says that women had to get up before the others in the house and do all of the chores. Alternatively it also says that women must tell her husband what she has spent and the husband should do the same. Husband and wife will not prosper if they are not honest to each other. The last bit of evidence that we can take is from The Accomplifht Lady’s Delight where it shows women doing chores, which support interpretation 1, and also a picture of a woman putting on make up. This supports interpretation 2. On the whole, evidence from domestic conduct books and advice manuals support interpretation 1.

The evidence from pictures and descriptions suggests that interpretation 2 is more correct than interpretation 2. A plaster frieze named ‘A Skimmington Ride’ suggests shows us a woman hitting her husband for being drunk whilst looking after the baby. This supports interpretation 1, however it says that the same man was then paraded around the village so as to make him look a fool for letting his wife hit him. That was not supposed to happen! A Dutch visitor to England wrote that England was known as ‘the paradise of married woman’. He also wrote that woman are ‘fond f taking it easy’ and go to market. If the woman goes to market then she is in charge of the money. SO she is responsible. The evidence from the Dutchman’s article support interpretation 2 completely. On the whole, interpretation 2 seems more accurate.

Most of the evidence from diaries supports the view that woman were physically abused quite often. After looking at 2 diaries by Samuel Pepys and John Eyre I have found these bits of evidence. In Pepys diary it says that Samuel punched her for being cross at him, Pepys also says that he was angry with his wife for not keeping the house tidy. These 2 pieces of evidence both support interpretation 1. On the other hand in the same diary it says that Pepys wife scratched and bit him back for punching her. In Eyres’ diary it says that his wife did not go out, where it says that Susan would not give her land over to John to clear his debts. This means that John felt he was more important than her, thus supporting interpretation 1. Supporting interpretation 2 though in his entry for January 1^st it says that John decided to be friends with Susan, which means that they were equal partners, eventually! I conclude that interpretation 1 goes with the evidence better than interpretation 2.

Historians will continue to disagree about the lives of married women because there are nearly always two sides to the story, and different people will always interpret things differently. However, I personally conclude that interpretation 1 is more accurate than 2. Even though, lots of the evidence was produced by men, the books, and the diaries. Etc.

A Skimmington Ride, which is from Montacute House in Somerset. In the early seventeenth century.