HIST 1631 Sex, Crime and the Courts in Early Modern Europe, 1500-1800 (HST-AS) (HIST-HEU, HIST-HPE)
Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 9:05-9:55
Professor Rachel Weil
Why did wives who killed their husbands in early modern Europe get charged not with murder but with petty treason? Did rape victims ever get justice? Why did the witch craze happen when it did? Were female thieves treated with more leniency than male ones? This course considers sexualized crimes, crimes against women, and crimes that women were thought to frequently perpetrate—rape, witchcraft, infanticide, prostitution, crimes against masters and husbands—to see how law interacts with gendered relations of power and the policing of sexuality. We will discuss the reasons why some crimes were associated with women, and learn to analyze primary sources like trial records, news and ballads, and criminal autobiography that reveal cultural assumptions and significance.
