To Have and to Hold: Gender Regimes and Property Rights in the Romanian Principalities before World War I

Abstract

This article focuses on the gendered aspects of the institutional framework surrounding the protection, control over, and transfer of property before 1914 in the area that became Romania in the twentieth century, from inheritance to marriage divorce, dowry, and widowhood. During the period covered here, these territories were part of several distinctive administrative regimes—the Habsburg Empire, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire—that also treated property ownership and transfer in various ways. Therefore, my analysis is comparative and offers insights into broader major historical questions, such as the relationship between religious dogma and secular law; the impact of ecclesiastical courts in relation to lay institutions in administering law and preserving property rights; and the impact of such institutions in enforcing specific gender norms.