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Women and the “Second Serfdom†: Evidence from Early Modern Bohemia

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  • Ogilvie, Sheilagh
  • Edwards, Jeremy

Abstract

This article investigates women's position in early modem Bohemia by focusing on female household headship, which was very low by European standards. Empirical analysis suggests that the factors hypothesized in the literature as influencing female economic independence in preindustrial Europe had little effect in Bohemia. Instead, it appears that the decline in female headship between 1591 and 1722 was a consequence of the growing power of landlords under the “second serfdom.†Not only did landlords eject female heads as poor fiscal risks, but landlord decisions were also manipulated by village communities and individual serfs for their own ends.

Suggested Citation

  • Ogilvie, Sheilagh & Edwards, Jeremy, 2000. "Women and the “Second Serfdom†: Evidence from Early Modern Bohemia," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 60(4), pages 961-994, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:60:y:2000:i:04:p:961-994_02
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    Cited by:

    1. Jörg Baten & Mikołaj Szołtysek, 2014. "A golden age before serfdom? The human capital of Central-Eastern and Eastern Europe in the 17th-19th centuries," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2014-008, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    2. Sheilagh Ogilvie, 2012. "Retail Ratios in the Netherlands, c. 1670 - c. 1815," Working Papers 2, Department of Economic and Social History at the University of Cambridge, revised 01 Jan 2012.
    3. Dennison, Tracy & Ogilvie, Sheilagh, 2014. "Does the European Marriage Pattern Explain Economic Growth?," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 74(3), pages 651-693, September.
    4. Baten, Jörg & Keywood, Thomas & Wamser, Georg, 2021. "Territorial state capacity and elite violence from the 6th to the 19th century," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    5. Alexander Klein & Sheilagh Ogilvie, 2016. "Occupational structure in the Czech lands under the second serfdom," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 69(2), pages 493-521, May.
    6. van den Heuvel, Danielle & Ogilvie, Sheilagh, 2013. "Retail development in the consumer revolution: The Netherlands, c. 1670–c. 1815," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 69-87.
    7. Peter Sandholt Jensen & Cristina Victoria Radu & Battista Severgnini & Paul Sharp, 2018. "The introduction of serfdom and labour markets," Working Papers 0140, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    8. Klein, Alexander, 2009. "Did Children’s Education Matter? Family Migration as a Mechanism of Human Capital Investment. Evidence From Nineteenth Century Bohemia," Economic Research Papers 271185, University of Warwick - Department of Economics.
    9. Siegfried Gruber & Mikołaj Szołtysek, 2014. "The Patriarchy Index: a comparative study of power relations across historic Europe," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2014-007, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    10. Sheilagh Ogilvie, 2012. "Choices and Constraints in the Pre-Industrial Countryside," Working Papers 1, Department of Economic and Social History at the University of Cambridge, revised 01 Jan 2012.
    11. Ogilvie, S. & Küpker, M. & Maegraith, J., 2009. "Community Characteristics and Demographic Development: Three Württemberg Communities, 1558 - 1914," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0910, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    12. Baten Joerg & Szołtysek Mikołaj & Campestrini Monica, 2017. "“Girl Power” in Eastern Europe? The human capital development of Central-Eastern and Eastern Europe in the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries and its determinants," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 21(1), pages 29-63.
    13. Ogilvie, Sheilagh & Carus, A.W., 2014. "Institutions and Economic Growth in Historical Perspective," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 8, pages 403-513, Elsevier.
    14. Jörg Baten & Mikołaj Szołtysek, 2012. "The human capital of Central-Eastern and Eastern Europe in European perspective," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2012-002, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.

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