ABSTRACT

This special section presents new research on the ways in which unmarried parents – particularly women – negotiated illegitimacy, how they interacted with urban institutions, and what legal resources they had. Throughout the early modern period, extramarital pregnancies were an important issue of concern to urban authorities and city dwellers. In line with recent historiographic strands, the two articles in this section approach the topic of unwed motherhood from below. The articles pay particular attention to the interactions between institutions and unwed mothers, the diversity of identities of unmarried parenthood, and the agency of unwed mothers in early modern Europe. Geographically, the contributions cover evidence from cities in Italy, Germany, Holland and Switzerland. In this introduction, we contextualize the most important issues addressed in the contributions. We explain why early modern societies regarded unwed motherhood as such a serious problem and expound the concept of ‘agency’ in relation to illegitimacy. We then elaborate on the institutions that dealt with unmarried parenthood in early modern Europe and their possible effect on the agency of unmarried mothers. This includes the impact of changes on the treatment of illegitimacy by institutions, and the North-South divide with regard to attitudes towards unwed parenthood.

摘要

本专题介绍了有关未婚父母（尤其是妇女）如何协商非婚生身份，他们如何与城市机构互动以及他们拥有哪些法律资源的新研究。在整个早期，婚外怀孕一直是城市当局和城市居民关注的重要问题。与最近的历史学研究相一致，本节中的两篇文章从下面探讨了未婚育母的话题。这些文章特别关注机构和未婚母亲之间的互动，未婚父母身份的多样性以及近代欧洲早期未婚母亲的代理。从地理上讲，这些贡献包括来自意大利，德国，荷兰和瑞士的城市的证据。在此介绍中，我们将文稿中所涉及的最重要问题具体化。我们解释了为什么现代近代社会将未婚育种视为如此严重的问题，并阐述了与非法性相关的“代理”概念。然后，我们详细介绍了近代早期欧洲处理未婚父母身份的机构及其对未婚母亲代理的可能影响。这包括变化对机构对非婚生子女待遇的影响，以及在对待未婚父母的态度方面的南北分歧。然后，我们详细介绍了近代早期欧洲处理未婚父母身份的机构及其对未婚母亲代理的可能影响。这包括变化对机构对非婚生子女待遇的影响，以及在对待未婚父母的态度方面的南北分歧。然后，我们详细介绍了近代早期欧洲处理未婚父母身份的机构及其对未婚母亲代理的可能影响。这包括变化对机构对非婚生子女待遇的影响，以及在对待未婚父母的态度方面的南北分歧。