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Marriage History - 16th / 17th Centuries

Marriage, courtship and divorce practices in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, shedding light on the roles and status of women, wives and widows.
17th Century Marriage Bibliography
Resources useful to studying women's lives in 17th century England.
Astell, Mary: Some Reflections Upon Marriage
Full text of a 1700 essay on marriage, including reflections on inequality and the submission of wives to husbands.
Divorce: An American Tradition
Summary of 1991 book by Glenda Riley, documenting laws and practice related to divorce from colonial America to today.
Some Reflections Upon Marriage
Summary of argument by Mary Astell, 1700, on the relationship of husband and wife in a society in which men have most of the authority and power.

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