Preindustrial “Single-Parent” Families: The Tutelle in Early Modern Dijon

Abstract

In the preindustrial world, single-parent families were most often created by the death of a spouse. This article examines maternal social authority in the wake of this everyday family crisis and attempts to recover the activities of single mothers and the legal parameters within which they lived in Dijon. The study shows that although tremendous legal restrictions were placed upon the newly widowed “single mother” in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, these women consistently tailored the legal system to maintain lines of authority over their children and property.