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WOMEN . The very word " woman " (0. Eng. wlfmann), etymologically meaning a wife (or the wife See also:division of the human See also:race, the See also:female of the See also:species Homo), sums up a See also:long See also:history of dependence and subordination, from which the women of to-See also:day have only gradually emancipated themselves in such parts of the See also:world as come under " Western See also:civilization." Though married See also:life and its duties necessarily See also:form a predominant See also:element in the woman's See also:sphere, they are not necessarily the whole of it; and the " woman's See also:movement " is essentially a struggle for the recognition of equality of opportunity with men, and for equal rights irrespective of See also:sex, even if See also:special relations and conditions are willingly incurred under the form of See also:partnership involved in See also:marriage. The difficulties of obtaining this recognition are obviously due to See also:historical causes combined with the habits and customs which history has produced. The dependent position of women in See also:early See also:law is proved by the See also:evidence of most See also:ancient systems which have in whole or Early taw. in See also:part descended to us.' In the See also:Mosaic law See also:divorce was a See also:privilege of the See also:husband only,' the See also:vow of a woman might be disallowed by her See also:father or husband,' and daughters could inherit only in the See also:absence of sons, and then they must marry in their tribe.' The See also:guilt or innocence of a wife accused of See also:adultery might be tried by the See also:ordeal of the See also:bitter See also:water.' Besides these instances, which illustrate the 1 But in the earliest extant See also:code, however, that of Khammurabi, the position of women was See also:free and dignified. See BABYLONIAN LAW. 2 Deut. See also:xxiv. r. 3 Numb. See also:xxx. 3. ' Numb. See also:xxvii., See also:xxxvi. 6 Numb. v. r r.subordination of women, there was much legislation dealing with, inter alia, offences against chastity, and marriage of a See also:man with a See also:captive See also:heathen woman or with a See also:purchased slave. So far from second marriages being restrained, as they were by See also:Christian legislation, it was the See also:duty of a childless widow to marry her deceased husband's See also:brother. In See also:India subjection was a See also:cardinal principle. " Day and See also:night must women be held by their protectors in a See also:state of dependence," says Manus The See also:rule of See also:inheritance was agnatic, that is, descent traced through See also:males to the exclusion of See also:females.? The See also:gradual growth of stridhana, or See also:property of a woman given by the husband before or after marriage, or by the wife's See also:family, may have led to the See also:suttee, for both the family of the widow and the Brahmans had an See also:interest in getting the lite See also:estate of a woman out of the way s Women in See also:Hindu law had only limited rights of inheritance, and were disqualified as witnesses. In See also:Roman law a woman was even in historic times completely dependent. If married she and her property passed into the See also:power of her husband; if unmarried she was (unless a vestal virgin) under the perpetual tutelage of her father during his life, and after his See also:death of her See also:agnates, that is, those of her kinsmen by See also:blood or See also:adoption who would have been under the power of the See also:common ancestor had he lived. Failing agnates, the tutelage probably passed to the gens. The wife was the purchased property of her husband, and, like a slave, acquired only for his benefit. A woman could not exercise any See also:civil or public See also:office. In the words of See also:Ulpian, " feminae ab See also:omnibus officiis civilibus vel publicis remotae sunt." 9 A woman could not continue a family, for she was "caput et finis familiae suae,"10 could not be a See also:witness, See also:surety, See also:tutor, or See also:curator; she could not adopt or be adopted, or make a will or See also:contract. She could not succeed ab intestato as an agnate, if further removed than a See also:sister. A daughter might be disinherited by a See also:general clause, a son only by name. On the other See also:hand, a woman was privileged in some matters, but rather from a feeling of pity for her bodily weakness and presumed See also:mental incapacity" than for any more worthy See also:reason. Thus she could plead See also:ignorance of law as a ground for dissolving an See also:obligation, which a man could not as a rule do; she could accuse only in cases of See also:treason and See also:witchcraft; and she was in certain cases exempt from See also:torture. In See also:succession ab intestata to immovable property Roman law did not, as does See also:English, recognize any privilege of males over females.
Legal disabilities were gradually mitigated by the See also:influence of See also:fictions, the praetorian See also:equity and legislation. An example of the first was the mode by which a woman freed herself from the authority of her tutor by fictitious cession into the authority of a tutor nominated by herself, or by See also:sale of herself into the power of a nominal husband on the understanding that he was at once to emancipate her to another See also:person, who then manumitted her. The See also:action of equity is illustrated by the recognition by the See also:praetor of cognatic or natural as distinguished from agnatic or artificial relationship, and of a widow's claim to succeed on the death of her husband intestate and without relations. Legislation, beginning as early as the Twelve Tables, which for-bade excessive See also:mourning for the dead by female mourners, did not progress uniformly towards enfranchisement of women. For instance, the Lex Voconia (about 169 B.C.), called by St See also:Augustine the most unjust of all See also:laws, provided that a woman could not be instituted See also:heir to a man who was registered as owner of a See also:fortune of Soo,000 asses 12 A constitution of Valentinian I. forbade bequests by women to ecclesiastics. But the tendency
6 Ch. ix. § 2 (See also:Sir W. See also: See especially Das Mutterrecht of J. J. Bachofen (See also:Stuttgart, 1861). s See also:Maine, Early History of Institutions, lect. xi. 9 Dig. i. 16, 195. 1° Ibid. 11 Imbecillitas is the See also:term used more than once in the texts of Roman law. 12 The way in which this law was evaded was by non-enrolment of the testator in the See also:census (see See also:Montesquieu, Esprit See also:des lots, bk. xxvii.). Another way was by leaving her the inheritance by fideicommissum (see See also:TRUST). of legislation was undoubtedly in the direction indicated. Adoption of women was allowed by See also:Diocletian and Maximian in 291. The tutelage of women of full See also:age was removed by See also:Claudius, and, though afterwards in part revived, has disappeared by the See also:time of Justinian. This implied full testamentary and contractual See also:liberty. In regard to the See also:separate property of the married woman, the See also:period of dos had by the time of Justinian long superseded the period of manus. The result was that, in spite of a few remaining disabilities, such as the general incapacity to be surety or witness to a will or contract, of a wife to make a See also:gift to her husband, of a widow to marry within a See also:year of her husband's death, the position of women had become, in the words of Sir H. Maine, " one of See also:great See also:personal and proprietary See also:independence."' For this improvement in their position they were largely indebted to the legislation of the Christian emperors, especially of Justinian, who prided himself on being a See also:protector
of women.
The following are a few of the matters in which See also:Christianity appears to have made alterations, generally but perhaps not always improvements, in the law. As a rule the influence of the See also: (3) He extended to all cases the principle established by the Senatus Consultum Tertullianum (158), enabling the mother of three (if a freed woman four) See also:children to succeed to the property of her children who died intestate, and gave increased rights of succession to a widow. (4) The restrictions on the marriage of senators and other men of high See also:rank with women of See also:low rank were extended by See also:Constantine, but almost entirely removed by Justinian. (5) Second marriages were discouraged (especially by making it legal to impose a See also:condition that a widow's right to property should cease on re-marriage), and the Leonine Constitutions at the end of the 9th See also:century made third marriages punishable. (6) The same constitutions made the See also:benediction of a See also:priest a necessary part of the ceremony of marriage.3 The criminal law in its relation to women presents some points of interest. Adultery was punished with death by Constantine, but the See also:penalty was reduced by Justinian to relegation to a See also:convent. A woman condemned for adultery could not re-marry. A marriage between a Christian and a See also:Jew rendered the parties guilty of adultery. Severe laws were enacted against offences of unchastity, especially procurement and See also:incest. It was a See also:capital See also:crime to carry off or offer violence to a See also:nun. A wife could not commit furtum of her husband's goods, but he had a special action rerum amotarum against her. By several sumptuary constituticns, contained in the Code, bk. xi., women as well as men were subject to penalties for wearing See also:dress or ornaments (except rings) imitating those reserved for the emperor and his family. Actresses and women of See also:bad fame were not to See also:wear the dress of virgins dedicated to See also:Heaven. If a See also:consul had a wife or mother living with him, he was allowed to incur greater expense than if he lived alone. The interests of working women were protected by enactments for the regulation of the gynoecia, or workshops for See also:spinning, See also:dyeing, &c. The See also:canon law; looking with disfavour on the female independence prevailing in the later Roman law, tended rather in the opposite direction. The Decretum specially inculcated subjection of the wife to the husband, and obedience to his will in all things.' The See also:chief differences between canon and Roman law were in the law of marriage, especially in the introduction of publicity and of the formalities of the See also:ring and the See also:kiss. The benediction of a priest was made a necessary part of the ceremony, as indeed it had been made by the civil power, as has been already stated, in the See also:post-Justinian period of Roman law. But in practice this rule appears to have fallen into disuse until it was again revived by the See also:council of See also:Trent. It was, however, the Ancient Law, ch. v. Hence the See also:necessity of such laws as the Lex Oppia (see SUMPTUARY LAWS). A remarkable example of this tendency was the provision that an actress might leave the stage and break her contract of service with impunity in See also:order to become a nun. Even under the pagan emperors a constitution of Diocletian and Maximian in 285 had enacted that no one was to be compelled to marry (See also:Cod. v. 4, 14). ' See R. T. Troplong, De l'influence du christianisme sur le drost civil. ' Pt. ii. caus. xxxiii. qu. v. ch. 16.rule of the English common law after the See also:Reformation. The ceremony was not to be performed during See also:Lent. The woman was to be veiled during the ceremony. A promise of marriage was so sacred that it made a subsequent marriage with another person void. Spiritual cognation was a See also:bar to marriage. The See also:sentence of the church was made necessary for divorce. As to women in general the law does not say very much. Women, even relatives, were not to live with priests unless in See also:case of necessity. They were not to approach the See also:altar or fill any public office of the church; nor might they lend See also:money on See also:usury. See also:Baptism might be valid although administered by a woman. Women who had professed See also:religion could not be forced to give evidence as witnesses. In some cases the evidence of women was not receivable.' The early law of the See also:northern parts of See also:Europe is interesting from the different ways in which it treated women. In the words of Sir H. Maine'—" The position of women in these barbarous systems of inheritance varies very greatly. Sometimes they inherit, either as individuals or as classes, only when males of the same See also:generation have failed. Sometimes they do not inherit, but transmit a right of inheritance to their male issue. Sometimes they succeed to one See also:kind of property, for the most part movable property, which they probably took a great See also:share in producing by their See also:household labour; for example, in the real Salic law (not in the imaginary code) there is a set of rules of succession which, in my See also:opinion, clearly admit women and their descendants to a share in the inheritance of movable property, but confine See also:land exclusively to males and the descend-ants of males. . . . The See also:idea is that the proper mode of providing for a woman is by giving her a marriage portion; but, when she is once married into a separate community consisting of strangers in blood, neither she nor her children are deemed to have any further claim on the See also:parent See also:group." Among the Scandinavian races women were under perpetual tutelage, whether married or unmarried. The first to obtain freedom were the widows? As See also:late as the code of Christian V., at the end of the 17th century, it was enacted that if a woman married without the consent of her tutor he might have, if he wished, See also:administration and usufruct of her goods during her life.$ The provision made by the Scandinavian laws under the name of See also:morning-gift was perhaps the parent of the See also:modern settled property .9 The Brehon law of See also:Ireland excepted women from the See also:ordinary course of the law. They could distrain or contract only in certain named cases, and See also:distress upon their property was regulated by special rules. In the pre-See also:Conquest codes in See also:England severe laws were denounced against unchastity, and by a law of Canute a woman was to lose See also:nose and ears for adultery. The laws of See also:Athelstan contained the peculiarly brutal provision for the See also:punishment of a female slave convicted of See also:theft by her being burned alive by eighty other female slaves. Other laws were directed against the practice of witchcraft (q.v.) by women. Monogamy was enforced both by the civil and ecclesiastical law; and second and third marriages involved See also:penance. A glimpse of See also:cruelty in the household is afforded by the provision, occurring no less than three times in the ecclesiastical legislation, that if a woman scourged her female slave to death she must do penance. Traces of wife-See also:purchase are seen in the law of Ethelbert, enacting that if a man carry off a See also:freeman's wife he must at his own expense procure the husband another wife. The codes contain few provisions as to the property of married women, but those few appear to prove that she was in a better position than at a later ' On this See also:branch of the subject see Manssen's Het Christendom en de Vrouw (See also:Leiden, 1,877). 8 Early Law and See also:Custom, ch. v. 7 See Stiernhook, De jure Sveonum (See also:Stockholm, 1672), bk. ii. ch. i.; Messenius, Leges Svecorum (Stockholm, 1714). 8 Bk. iii. ch. xvi. §§ 1, 2. 9 The development of the See also:bride-See also:price no doubt was in the same direction. Its See also:original meaning was, however, different. It was the sum paid by the husband to the wife's family for the purchase of part of the family property, while the morning gift was paid as return virginitatis to the bride herself. In its English form morning-gift occurs in the laws of Canute; in its Latinized form of morgangiva it occurs in the Leges Henrici Primi. period. The laws of See also:Ine gave her a third of her husband's property; the laws of See also:Edmund as to See also:betrothal allowed this to be increased to See also:half by antenuptial contract, to the whole if she had children and did not re-marry after her husband's death. No doubt the See also:dower ad ostium ecclesiae favoured by the church generally superseded the legal rights where the property was large (in fact this is specially provided by Magna Carta, c. 7). "Provisio hominis tollit provisionem legis." The legal rights of a married woman apart from contract were gradually limited, until by the time of See also:Glanvill her person and property had become during her husband's lifetime entirely at his disposal, and after his death limited to her dower and her pars rationabilis. A few of the more interesting matters in which the old common and See also:statute law of England placed women in a special position may be noticed. A woman was exempt from legal duties more particularly attaching to men and not performable by See also:deputy. She could apparently originally not hold a proper See also:feud, i.e. one of which the See also:tenure was by military service.' The same principle appears in the rule that she could not be endowed of a See also:castle maintained for the See also:defence of the See also:realm and not for the private use of the owner. She could receive See also:homage, but not render it in the form used by men, and she was privileged from suit and service at the See also:sheriff's tourn. She was not sworn to the law by the See also:oath of See also:allegiance in the feet or tourn, and so could not be outlawed, but was said to be waived. She could be See also:constable, either of a castle or a See also:vill, but not sheriff, unless in the one case of See also:Westmorland, an hereditary office, exercised in person in the 17th century by the famous See also:Anne, countess of See also:Dorset, See also:Pembroke and See also:Montgomery. In certain cases a woman could transmit rights which she could not enjoy. On such a power of trans-See also:mission, as Sir H. Maine shows,2 rested the claim of See also:Edward III. to the See also:crown of See also:France. The claim through a woman was not a See also:breach of the See also:French constitutional law, which rejected the claim of a woman. The See also:jealousy of a woman's political influence is strikingly shown by the case of Alice See also:Perrers, the See also:mistress of Edward III. She was accused of breaking an See also:ordinance by which women had been forbidden to do business for hire and by way of See also:maintenance in the See also: Her will was revoked by marriage, that of a man only by marriage and the subsequent birth of a child. By 31 See also:Hen. VI. c. 9 the king's See also:writ out of See also:chancery was granted to a woman alleging that she had become See also:bound by an obligation through force or See also:fraud. By 39 Hen. VI. c. 2 a woman might have See also:livery of land as heiress at fourteen. Benefit of See also:clergy was first allowed to women partially by 21 Jac. I. c. 6, fully by 3 Will. & M. c 9 and 4 and 5 Will. & M. c. 24. Public See also:whipping was not abolished until 57 Geo. III. c. 75, whipping in all cases until 1 Geo. IV. c. 57. Burning was the punishment specially appropriated to' women convicted of treason or witchcraft. A,case of sentence to See also:execution by burning for See also:petit treason occurred as lately as 1784. In some old statutes very curious sumptuary regulations as to women's dress occur. By the sumptuary laws of Edward III. in 1363 (37 Edw. III. cc. 8-14) women were in general to be dressed according to the position of their fathers or husbands. Wives and daughters of servants were not to wear veils above twelvepence in value. Handicraftsmen's and yeomen's wives were not to wear See also:silk veils. The use of See also:fur was confined to the ladies of knights with a rental above 200 marks a year. Careful observance of difference of rank in the dress was also inculcated by 3 Edw IV. c. 5. The wife or daughter of a See also:knight was not to wear See also:cloth of See also:gold or See also:sable fur, of a knight-See also:bachelor not See also:velvet, of an See also:esquire or See also:gentleman not velvet, satin or See also:ermine, of a labourer not clothes beyond a certain price or a See also:girdle garnished with See also:silver. By 22 Edw. IV. c. 1, cloth of gold and See also:purple silk were confined to women of the royal family. It is worthy of See also:notice that at the times of passing these sumptuary laws the See also:trade interests of women were protected by the legislature. By 37 Edw. III. c. 6, handicraftsmen were to use only one See also:mystery, but women might See also:work as they had been accustomed 3 Edw. IV. c. 3 ' It is remarkable that the great fiefs of France, except the Isle of France, the special apanage of the crown, all became in time female fiefs. This is shown by the table at the end of Laboulaye's Recherches. 2 Early Law and Custom, ch. v, ' Rot. Parl., vol. iii. p. 12.forbade importation of silk and See also:lace by See also:Lombards and other See also:alien strangers, imagining to destroy the See also:craft of the silk spinsters and all such virtuous occupations for women. In some cases the wives and daughters of tradesmen were allowed to assist in the trades of their husbands and fathers; see, for instance, the See also:act concerning tanners, 1 Jac. I. c. 22. Some trading corporations, such as the See also:East India See also:Company, recognized no distinction of sex in their members. The disabilities imposed on women by substantive law are sometimes traceable in the early law of See also:procedure. For instance, by the Statute of Essoins (12 Edw. II. st. 2), essoin de servitio regis did not See also:lie where the party was a woman; that is, a woman (with a few exceptions) could not excuse her absence from court by alleging that she was on public duty. The influence of the church is very clearly traceable in some of the earlier criminal legislation. Thus by 13 Edw. I. st. 1, c. 34, it was punishable with three years' imprisonment to carry away a nun, even with her consent. The Six Articles, 31 Hen. VIII. c. 14, forbade marriage and See also:concubinage of priests and sanctioned vows of chastity by women. In See also:Scotland, as early as Regiam Majestatem (12th century) women were the See also:object of special legal regulation. In that work the mercheta mulieris (probably a tax paid to the See also:lord on the marriage of his See also:tenant's daughter) was fixed at a sum differing according to the rank of the woman. Numerous ancient laws dealt with trade and sumptuary matters. By the Leges Quatuor Burgorum female brewsters making bad See also:ale were to forfeit eightpence and be put on the tucking-See also:stool, and were to set an ale-wand outside their houses under a penalty of fourpence. The same laws also provided that a married woman committing a trespass without her husband's knowledge might be chastised like a child under age. The Statuta Gilde of the 13th century enacted that a married woman might not buy See also:wool in the streets or buy more than a limited amount of oats. The same code also ensured a provision for the daughter of one of the gild-brethren unable to provide for herself through poverty, either by marrying her or putting her in a convent. By the act 1429, c. 9, wives were to be arrayed after the estate of their husbands. By 1457, c. 13, no woman was to go to church with her See also:face covered so that she could not be known. 1581, c. 18, was conceived in a more liberal spirit, and allowed women to wear any See also:head-dress to which they had been accustomed. 1621, c. 25, permitted servants to wear their mistress's See also:cast-off clothes. 1681, c. 80, contained the remarkable provision that not more than two changes of raiment were to be made by a bride at her See also:wedding. In its more modern aspect the law is in most respects similar to that of England. (J. W.) In separate legal articles See also:attention is See also:drawn, on various subjects, to any special provisions or disabilities affecting modern women; see, for instance, EVIDENCE, DIVORCE, English MARRIAGE, CHILDREN (Law See also:relating to), See also:INFANT, law HUSBAND AND WIFE. The movement for removing specially the older disabilities has progressed at such different affecting women. rates in various countries that it is impossible to do more than See also:note here the chief distinctions remaining under English law in 191o. Civil Rights.—The age at which a girl can contract a valid marriage, in English law, is, following the Roman law, twelve; she is thus two years in advance of a boy, who must be fourteen. Under the:Infants See also:Settlement Act 1855, a valid settlement could be made by a woman at seventeen with the approval of the court, the age for a man being twenty; by the Married Women's Property Act 1907 any settlement by a husband of his wife's property is not valid unless executed by her if she is of full age, or confirmed by her after she attains full age. An unmarried woman is liable for the support of illegitimate children till they attain the age of sixteen. She is generally assisted, in the absence of agreement, by an See also:affiliation order granted by magistrates. A married woman having separate property is, under the Married Women's Property Acts 1882 and 1908, liable for the support of her parents, husband, children and grandchildren becoming chargeable to any See also:union or See also:parish. At common law the father was entitled as against the mother to the custody of a legitimate child up to the age of sixteen, and could only forfeit such right by misconduct. But the Court of Chancery, wherever there was trust property and the infant could be made a See also: The promise need not be in See also:writing. The parties to an action are by 32 and 33 Viet. C. 68 competent witnesses; the plaintiff cannot, however, recover a See also:verdict without his or her testimony being corroborated by other material evidence. The measure of See also:damages is to a greater extent than in most actions at the discretion of the See also:jury; they may take into See also:consideration the injury to the plaintiff's feelings, especially if the breach of promise be aggravated by seduction. Either party has a right to trial by jury under the rules of the Supreme Court, 1883. The action cannot be tried in a See also:county court, unless by consent, or unless remitted for trial there by the High Court. Unchastity of the plaintiff unknown to the See also:defendant when the promise was made and See also:dissolution of the contract by mutual consent are the See also:principal defences which are usually raised to the action. Bodily infirmity of the defendant is no defence to the action, though it may justify the other party in refusing to rnarry the person thus affected. Where the betrothed are within prohibited degrees of See also:consanguinity or See also:affinity, there can be no valid promise at all, and so no action for its breach. Criminal Law.—There are some offences which can be committed only by women, others which can be committed only against them. Among the former are concealment of birth (in ninety-nine cases out of a See also:hundred), the now obsolete offence of being a common See also:scold, and See also:prostitution (q.v.) and kindred offences. Where a married woman commits a crime in company with her husband, she is generally presumed to have acted by his See also:coercion, and so to be entitled to acquittal. This presumption, however, was never made in witchcraft cases, and is not now made in cases of treason, murder and other See also:grave crimes, or in crimes in which the principal part is most usually taken by the wife, such as keeping a brothel. In fact, the exceptions to the old presumption are now perhaps more numerous i The action for breach of promise of marriage is in some of its incidents See also:peculiar to English law. In Roman law, betrothal (sponsalia) imposed a duty on the betrothed to become husband and wife within a reasonable time, subject to the termination of the obligation by death, repudiation by the words conditione tua non utor, or See also:lapse of time, the time fixed being two years. No action See also:lay for breach of promise to marry unless arrhae sponsalitiae had been given, i.e. See also:earnest of the bargain, to be forfeited by the party refusing to carry it out. The an-ha might also be given by a parent, and was equally liable to See also:forfeiture. A provincial See also:governor, or one of his relations or household, could not recover any arrha that might have been given, it being supposed that he was in a position of authority and able to exercise influence in forcing consent to a betrothal. In the canon law breach of the promise made by the sponsalia, whether de praesenti or de futuro, a division unknown to Roman law, does not without more appear to have sufficed to found an action for its breach, except so far as it See also:fell under ecclesiastical See also:cognizance as laesio fidei, but it had the more serious legal effect of avoiding as a canonical disability the subsequent marriage, while the original sponsalia continued, of a betrothed person to any other than the one to whom he or she was originally betrothed. The sponsalia became inoperative, either by mutual consent or by certain supervening impediments, such as ordination or a vow of chastity. The canonical disability of pre-contract was removed in England by 32 Hen. VIII. c. 38, re-established in the reign of Edward VI., and finally abolished in 1753. In England the cuty of the parties is the same as in Roman law, viz. to carry out the contract within a reasonable time, if no time be specially fixed. Formerly a contract to marry could be specifically enforced by the ecclesiastical court compelling a celebration of the marriage in facie ecclesiae. The last instance of a suit for this purpose was in 1752, and the right to bring it was abolished in 1753 by Lord See also:Hardwicke's Act (26 Geo. II. c. 33). In Scotland a promise in the nature of sponsalia de futuro not followed by consummation may be resiled from, subject to the liability of the party in See also:fault to an action for the breach, which by 6 Geo. IV. c. 12o, s. 28, is a proper cause for trial by jury. If, however, the sponsalia be de praesenti, and, according to the more probable opinion, if they be de futuro followed by consummation, a pre-contract is constituted, giving a right to a See also:decree of See also:declarator of marriage and See also:equivalent to marriage, unless declared void during the lifetime of the parties.than those falling within it. The See also:doctrine of coercion and the practice of separate See also:acknowledgment of deeds by married women (necessary before the Married Women's Property Act) seem to be vestiges of the period when women, besides being chattels, were treated as chattels. Formerly a wife could not steal her husband's property, but since the Married Women's Property Act this has become possible. Adultery is no crime, England being almost the only See also:country where such is the case. It was punished by See also:fine in the ecclesiastical courts up to the 17th century, and was made criminal for a See also:short time by an ordinance of the Long See also:Parliament.- The offences which can be committed only against women are chiefly those against decency, such as See also:rape, procurement and similar crimes, in which a considerable See also:change in the law in the direction of increased protection to women was made by the Criminal Law See also:Amendment Act 1885. In regard to the protection given to a wife against her husband modern legislation has considerably strengthened the wife's position by means of judicial separation and maintenance in case of desertion (see DIVORCE). The whipping of female offenders was abolished in 182o. Chastisement of a wife by a husband, possibly at one time lawful to a reasonable extent, would now certainly constitute an See also:assault. The husband's rights are limited to restraining the wife's liberty in case of her misconduct. In Scotland the criminal law differs slightly from that of England. At one time drowning was a punishment specially reserved for women. Incest (q.v.), or an See also:attempt to commit incest, has always been punishable as a crime. Adultery and fornication are still nominally crimes, but criminal proceedings in these cases have fallen into desuetude. The age of testamentary capacity is still twelve, not twenty-one, as in England. - The whole idea of women's position in social life, and their ability to take their See also:place, independently of any question of sex, in the work of the world, was radically changed Higher in the English-speaking countries, and also in the more education progressive nations beyond their See also:bounds, during the and its 19th century. This is due primarily to the movement results' for women's higher education and its results. To See also:deal in detail with this movement in various countries would here be too intricate a See also:matter; but in the English-speaking countries at all events the change is so See also:complete that the only curious thing now is, not what See also:spheres women may not enter, more or less equally with men, but the few from which they are still excluded.
Before the See also:accession of See also:Queen See also:Victoria, there was no systematic education for English women, but as the first half of the 19th century See also:drew to a See also:close, broader views began to be held on the subject, while the humanitarian movement, as well as the rapidly increasing number of women, helped to put their education on a sounder basis. It became more thorough; its methods were better calculated to stimulate intellectual power; and the conviction that it was neither See also:good, nor politic, for women to remain intellectually in their former state of ignorance, was gradually accepted by every one. The movement owed much to See also:Frederick See also:Denison See also:Maurice. He was its See also:pioneer; and Queen's See also:College (1848), which he founded, was the first to give a wider See also:scope to the training of its scholars. Out of its teaching, and that of its professors (including See also: In the act of 19o8 establishing the new Roman
See also:Catholic university in Ireland, it was provided that two members of the See also:senate should be women; and Queen's University, Belfast, had three women in 1910 in its senate. Women may point with justifiable See also:pride to the fact that within a very few years of their See also:admission to university See also:examinations,they provided at Cambridge both a See also:senior classic and a senior wrangler. In See also:America (see Co-EDUCATION) the movement has gone much farther than in Great See also:Britain.
The temperate, See also:calm, earnest demeanour of women, both in the schools and in university life, awakened admiration and respect from all; and the movement brought into existence a vast number of women, as well-educated as men, hard-working, persevering and capable, who invaded many professions, and could hold their ground where a See also:sound education was the See also:foundation of success. The pioneers of female education spent their energies in developing their higher and more intellectual ideals, but later years opened up other positions which better education has enabled women to fill. In the See also:literary See also: In France in See also:December 190o an act was passed enabling women to practise as barristers, and Madame Petit was sworn in See also:Paris, while a woman was briefed for the defence in a murder case in See also:Toulouse in 1903, this being the first case of a woman See also:pleading in a See also:European criminal court. In See also:Finland and See also:Norway women have long practised as barristers, and in See also:Denmark since 1908 they have been admitted as assistants to lawyers. By the law of the Nether-lands they are admitted as notaries. In England a special tribunal of the See also:House of Lords presided over by the Lord See also:Chancellor decided in 1903 not to admit women to the English bar, on the grounds that there was no precedent and that they were not desirous of creating one; but See also:numbers of women take degrees in law in British universities, and several have become solicitors.
2 In the olden times before the Reformation in England various religious communities absorbed a large number of the surplus female See also:population, and in High Church and Roman Catholic circles many ladles still enter various See also:sisterhoods and devote their lives to teaching the See also:young, visiting the poor and See also:nursing the sick. In the Church of England the only office which remained open to women was the modest one of See also:churchwarden, and this office is not infrequently filled by women. The See also:Convocation of See also:Canterbury in 1908 refused by a See also:majority of two to admit women to parochial church See also:councils, though qualified persons of the female sex may See also:vote for parochial lay representatives on the church council. In the See also:Independent Churches there are fewer restrictions. Among the Congregationalists women have equal votes on all questions and may become deacons or even ministers; See also:Miss Jane See also: Gertrude von Petzold held in 1910 the post of See also:minister of the See also:Narborough Road Free Christian Church, See also:Leicester.number are finding employment. See also:Agriculture and gardening have opened up a new field of work, and, with it, kindred occupations.
Women have always found a peculiarly fitting, sphere as nurses, though it is only in See also:recent years that nursing (q.v.) has been professionalized by means of proper education. But their admission to the medical profession itself MedfclllC. was one of the earliest triumphs of the 19th-century movement. It began in America, but was quickly followed up in England. After having been refused admission to instruction by numerous See also:American medical schools, Miss See also: Women in England may fill some of the highest positions in the state. A woman may be a queen, or a See also:regent, and as queen regnant has, by 1 See also:Mary, sess. 3, c. I, as full rights as a king. Among the public offices a woman may iUaal hold are those of county, See also:borough, parish and rural or posftfon. See also:urban See also:district councillor, overseer, guardian of the poor, church-See also:warden and See also:sexton. In 1908 Mrs Garrett Anderson was elected See also:mayor of See also:Aldeburgh, the first case of a woman holding that position. Women have also been nominated as members of Royal Commissions (e.g. those on the Poor Law and Divorce). A woman cannot serve on a jury, but may, if married, be one of a " jury of matrons" empanelled to determine the condition of a female prisoner on a writ de venire inspiciendo. She can vote (if unmarried or a widow) in county council, municipal, poor law and other local elections. The granting of the See also:parliamentary See also:franchise to women was, however, still withheld in 1910. The history of the movement for women's See also:suffrage is told below. It may be remarked that, with or without the See also:possession of a vote on their own See also:account, politics in England have in modern times been very considerably influenced by the work of women as speakers, canvassers and organizers. The great Conservative See also:auxiliary political organization, the See also:Primrose See also:League, owes its See also:main success to women, and the Women's Liberal Federation, on the opposite See also:side, has done much for the Liberal party. The Women's Liberal Unionist Association, which came into being in 1886 at the time of the Irish See also:Home Rule See also:Bill, also played an active part in defence of the Unionist cause.
The movement for the abolition of the sex distinction in respect of the right conferred upon certain citizens to share in the See also:election of parliamentary representatives See also:dates for See also:practical purposes from the middle of the 19th century. The governmental systems of the ancient world were
based without exception on the view that women could take no part in state politics, except in See also:oriental countries as monarchs. Exceptional women such as See also:Cleopatra, See also:Semiramis, See also:Arsinoe, might in the absence of men of the royal house, and by reason of royal descent or personal See also:prestige, occupy the See also:throne, and an See also:Aspasia might be recognized as the able head of a political See also:salon, but women in general derived thence no political status. Though Christianity and a broadening of men's theories of life tended to raise the moral and social status of women, yet See also:Paul definitely assigns subservience as the proper See also:function of women, and many of the fathers looked upon them mainly as inheriting the temptress function of See also:Eve. This view generally obtained through-out the middle ages, though here and there glimmerings of a new
Women's suffrage.
idea are seen; many of the great English abbesses discharged their territorial duties as landowners, and women as custodians of castles voted for knights of the shire. In the 17th and 18th centuries in England and America, under the influence of advancing political theory, and in France in the 18th century, this idea began to take shape. In England the writings of Mary See also:Astell (Serious Proposal to Ladies, 1697) and others led to the gradual revision of the inherited idea of the education and the true sphere of women, while in 1990 Mary Wollstonecraft published her Vindication of the Rights of Women. In America the dawning of a political consciousness is evidenced by the claim made in 1647 by Margaret Brent to sit in the See also:Assembly of See also:Maryland as the executor of Lord See also:Baltimore, and by the See also:requests made by See also:Abigail See also: In France the movement towards See also:democracy did not in the hands of See also: Among the leaders of that movement were See also:Barbara See also:Leigh Smith (Mrs See also:Bodichon) and Bessie Rayner See also:Parkes (Madame Belloc). At the same time a famous group of women, Emily See also:Davies, Miss See also:Beale and Miss See also:Buss(founders respectively of the Cheltenham Ladies' College and the North London Collegiate School) and Miss Garrett (Dr Garrett Anderson), Miss See also:Helen See also: G. O. Trevelyan's Household Franchise Bill in 1873 raised the hopes of the women's suffragist, and Mr See also:Joseph See also: Numerous bills and resolutions followed year by year in the names of W. Woodall, L. H. See also:Courtney (Lord Courtney, whose bill was read a second time without a division, 1886), W. S. B. M'Laren, See also:Baron Dimsdale, See also:Caleb See also:Wright, Sir See also:Albert K. Rollit, F. Faithfull Begg (1897; second reading majority 71). Up to 1906 all those attempts had failed, in most cases owing to time being taken for government business. The period 1906 to 1910 witnessed entirely new developments. The suffragists of the existing societies still carried on their constitutional propaganda, and various bills were introduced. In 1907 Mr W. H. See also:Dickinson's bill was talked out, and in i9o8 Mr H. Y. Stanger's bill was carried on its second reading by a majority of 179, but the government refused facilities for its progress. Prior to this, however, a number of suffragists had come to the conclusion that the failure of the various bills was due primarily to government hostility. Furthermore the See also:advent of a Liberal government in 1906 had aroused hopes among them that the question would be officially taken up. Questions were therefore put by women to Liberal See also:cabinet ministers at party meetings, and disturbances occurred, with the result that Miss Christabel Pankhurst and Miss Annie See also:Kenney were fined in Manchester in 1906. A certain section of suffragists thereafter decided upon comprehensive opposition to the government of the day, until such time as one or other party should officially adopt a measure for the enfranchisement of women. This opposition took two forms, one that of conducting See also:campaigns against government nominees (whether friendly or not) at bye-elections, and the other that of committing breaches of the law with a view to See also:drawing the widest possible attention to their cause and so forcing the authorities to fine or imprison them. Large numbers of women assembled while parliament was sitting, in contravention of the regulations, and on several occasions many arrests were made. Fines were imposed, but practically all refused to pay them and suffered imprisonment. At a later stage some of the prisoners adopted the further course of refusing See also:food and were forcibly fed in the gaols. The failure of all the bills previously drafted on the basis of exact equality between the sexes, and the fact that both Unionists and Liberals refused to make the matter a party question, coupled with a general feeling of discomfort at the relations between the so-called " militant " suffragists and the authorities, led in the See also:spring of 1910 to the formation of a committee (called the Conciliation Committee) of members of parliament under the See also:presidency of the See also:earl of See also:Lytton. This committee, consisting of some 55 members belonging to all parties, succeeded in agreeing upon a new bill based upon the occupier franchise established by the Municipal Franchise Act of 1884. It was urged on behalf of this bill that it would establish the principle on a sufficiently representative basis without altering the numerical See also:balance of parties in the country. It was calculated that slightly over 1,000,000 women would be enfranchised. After considerable pressure both inside the house and outside, Mr See also:Asquith consented to give two days of government time for the debate, and the second reading, moved by the Labour member, Mr D. J. Shackle-ton, was carried by a majority of rio votes. A further attempt to commit the bill to a See also:Grand Committee failed by 175 votes; the bill was therefore sent to a committee of the whole house, and Mr Asquith announced that he would not give further facilities. It was noteworthy that, though the bill was opposed as undemocratic by Mr See also:Lloyd-See also:George and other Liberals, it was supported by 32 out of 40 of the Labour members, and evidence was given that a large proportion of the new voters would have been working women. The leading women's suffrage societies may here be mentioned. All these societies have advocated precisely the same view, namely that women should have the same electoral privileges as men, whatever franchise See also:system be adopted. 1. The See also:National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies is the oldest organization. It began about 1867 as a number of separate local committees, and after various reorganizations a great amalgamation of all local societies was framed in 1896 under the See also:present See also:title. This union had 200 branches in 1910, All the early suffragists belonged to this See also:body, and in latter years the chief name is that of Mrs See also: In 1907 were formed (3) the Women's Freedom League (chiefly associated with the name of Mrs C. See also:Despard, a prominent supporter of the Labour party), whose members objected to the See also:internal administration of the Social and Political Union, but agreed in adopting its policy in a modified form; and (4) the Men's League for Women's Suffrage, a society which included men of all parties, and in September 1910 adopted the See also:anti-government election policy. Numerous other party' and non-party societies were formed, and resolutions supporting the principle, either in the abstract or as a part of adult suffrage, were passed by various Conservative, Liberal and Labour conferences and associations. The remarkable prominence of the movement and the fact that successive parliaments contained a majority of pledged suffragists led to the formation of opposition societies. In 1908 was formed the Women's National Anti-Suffrage League, of men and women, which drew into its ranks prominent persons such as Lord See also:Cromer, Lord Curzon, Lady Jersey and Mrs See also:Humphry Ward; and about the same time the Men's League for Opposing Women's Suffrage came into existence. These two leagues amalgamated in December 1910, as the National League for Opposing Women's Suffrage, with Lord Cromer as See also:president. The Anti-Suffrage Review was founded in 1909. In New See also:Zealand a measure for the enfranchisement of women, introduced by See also:Richard See also:Seddon, was carried in September 1893 (See also:ill the upper house by a majority of 2). In Australia the vote has been extended to all adult women both in the states (the first being See also:South Australia, 1894, the last Victoria, 1908) and for the See also:Commonwealth parliament. They have, moreover, the right to sit in the representative assemblies. The movement assumed an organized form in the United States somewhat earlier than in the United Kingdom. It arose out of the interest taken by women in the See also:temperance and anti-See also:slavery agitations; and was fostered by the discussion on women's property rights. In 184o the question was raised in a more acute form by the exclusion of women delegates from the World's Convention, and in 1848 the first women's suffrage convention was held at See also:Seneca Falls, the leading See also:spirits being Mrs Elizabeth Cady See also:Stanton, Martha C. Wright and See also:Lucretia See also:Mott. Later conventions at See also:Salem and Worcester, See also:Massachusetts, in 185o, ' E.g. the Conservative and Unionist Women's Franchise Association, of which the countess of See also:Selborne became president in 1910.were the predecessors of See also:annual meetings, but the extravagant dress adopted by some of the women brought ridicule upon the movement, which was further thrown into the background by the Civil See also:War. In 1869 were formed: (I) in New York, the National Women's Suffrage Association, and (2) in See also:Cleveland, the American Woman's Suffrage Association. In 1890 these Iwo societies amalgamated as the National American Woman's Suffrage Association, of which in 1900 Mrs Carrie See also:Chapman Catt became president. The question was considered by a select committee in the 48th See also:Congress, and 200 petitions, representing millions of individuals, were presented in 1900. The Labour and Socialist parties in general supported the women's claim, but there was considerable opposition in other parties. In 5 states (See also:Wyoming since 1869; See also:Colorado, 1893; See also:Utah, 1896; See also:Idaho, 1896; and See also:Washington, 1910) women are See also:electors, and in 25 states they have exercised the school suffrage. In See also:Louisiana they obtained the suffrage in connexion with tax levies in 1898. Anti-suffrage societies have also been formed in See also:Brooklyn (1894), Massachusetts (1895), See also:Illinois (1897), See also:Oregon (1899). In Finland all adult men and women over the age of 24, excluding paupers, received the right to vote for members of the See also:Diet in 1906, in which year nineteen women became members of the Diet. In Norway, where there is male suffrage for men over 25 years of age, women were entitled to vote by a law of 1907, provided they or, if married, their husbands (i.e. where property is jointly owned) had paid income tax on an annual income of 400 kroner (22) in the towns, or 300 kroner (£16, 1os.) in country districts. In See also:Sweden a suffrage bill was carried in the See also:lower but rejected in the upper house in 1909. In all the chief countries there are suffrage societies of greater or less strength. In See also:Russia the question was placed in the forefront of the demands made by the Duma in 1906, and in 1907 propertied women received the right to confer votes on their sons who would otherwise be unenfranchised. In France a feminist congress met at See also:Lyons in 1909. The See also:International Woman Suffrage See also:Alliance originated in the United States in 1888. Its membership increased steadily, and at the Convention held in London in 1909 delegates were present from twenty-two countries. In the United Kingdom this Alliance is represented by the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies. A social and propagandist See also:club was founded in London in 19o9 with an international membership. An international journal under the title See also:Jus Suffragii (See also:Brussels) was founded in 1907. See also:works out of many dealing with various phases of the modern " women's movement. " See Alice Zimmern's See also:Renaissance of Girls' Education in England (1898) ; A. R. Cleveland, Women under. English Law (1896); J. L. de See also:Lanessan, L'Education de la femme moderne (1908); M. Ostrogorski, Femme au point de vue du See also:droit public (1892) ; Mrs C. P. See also:Gilman, Women and See also:Economics (1899) ; Miss C. E. Collet, See also:Report on Changes in the Employment of Women (1898; Parl. papers, C. 8794); B. and M. See also:Van Vorst, Woman in See also:industry (1908) ; A. Loria, Le Feminisme an point de vue sociologique (1907); Helen See also:Blackburn, See also:Record of Women's Suffrage, in the United Kingdom (1902); Susan B. See also:Anthony, History of Woman's Suffrage, in the United States (4 vols., 1881–1902) ; C. C. Stopes, British Free Women (1894); W. See also:Lyon Blease, The Emancipation of Women (1910). The classical exposition of the arguments on behalf of women's suffrage is J. S. Mill's Subjection of Women; the most important statement in opposition is perhaps that of See also:Professor A. V. See also:Dicey in the Quarterly Review (Oct. 1908). Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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