Europe: Women's Roles and Rights
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EuroDocs > European Sources by Topic > Europe: Women's Roles and Rights
Women's Laws, Rights, and Suffrage
- To defend them against the scandalous reportes of a late Surfeiting Lover, and all other like Venerians that complaine so to bee overcloyed with womens kindnesse.
- (1589; Old English)
- Posters from the campaign for women's votes
- (19th-20th century; English facsimiles)
- For the first time, women in Britain had the possibility of receiving custody of their children following a divorce.
- (1839; English transcription)
- Source documents from the Danish women's movement.
- Click on links within the commentary for source documents
- (1850-1985; Danish commentary linking to transcriptions)
- "I consulted whether a divorce 'by reason of cruelty' might not be pleaded for me; and I laid before my lawyers the many instances of violence, injustice, and ill-usage, of which the trial was but the crowning example. I was then told that no divorce I could obtain would break my marriage…”
- From Celebration of Women Writers
- (1854; English transcription)
- ”As one who has grievously suffered, and is still suffering, under the present imperfect state of the law,–I address your Majesty on the subject.”
- From Celebration of Women Writers
- (1855; English transcription)
- "A man and wife are one person in law; the wife loses all her rights as a single woman, and her existence is entirely absorbed in that of her husband. He is civilly responsible for her acts; she lives under his protection or cover, and her condition is called coverture. A woman's body belongs to her husband; she is in his custody, and he can enforce his right by a writ of habeas corpus."
- (1856; English facsimile)
- by Helen Taylor.
- (1867; English transcription)
- Gave women the right to own and control their own property
- (1882; English transcription)
- "An article by women’s rights campaigner Annie Besant in the weekly paper, The Link, described the terrible conditions of the factory...When one of the workers was then fired, an immediate full-scale strike among the match girls was sparked. "
- From the British Library Timeline
- (1888; facsimile)
- Contents include magazine articles, flyers, song lyrics, pamphlets, studies, and clippings, published by labor unions, women’s groups, consumers’ leagues, and government bureaus.
- (late 19th-early 20th century; facsimiles)
- From the Human Rights Collection at the National Archives
- (1906; English facsimile)
- From the Human Rights Collection at the National Archives
- (1909; English facsimile)
- Containing speeches on finance, foreign affairs, home rule, and women's suffrage
- (1910-1916; English facsimile)
- Includes recent acts and commissions and also discusses the measures of jurisdiction and law needed to proceed. Discusses questions such as: “Should the Law be amended, so as to place the two Sexes on an equal footing, as regards to the grounds upon which Divorce may be attained?”
- (1912; English facsimile)
- In this collection of programmes we hear from those women whose part in the struggle would finally culminate in the 1918 Representation of the People Act and the election of the first woman MP.
- (film and audio)
- Men aged 21 could vote regardless of property ownership, and women aged 30 with certain property qualifications could vote.
- (1918; English facsimile)
- Historical documents of the Austrian women's movement.
- Gathered by Ariadne, the women's documentation project of the Austrian National Library.
- (1918-1938; German; facsimile books and periodicals)
- History of suffrage movement in Sweden. Photographs, advertisements and other documents.
- (1919; Swedish)
- To discuss the Enfranchisement of Women
- From the Human Rights Collection at the National Archives
- (1926; English facsimile)
- Allowed women aged 21 to vote.
- (1928; English transcription)
- Italian News reports and videos from the time when the suffragette movement finally succeeded
- From Rai
- (1946; Italian; videos)
- Although many people had traditionally clung to the motto that women's role in society was "Kinder, Kirche und Küche," Swiss women were finally given their voting rights.
- (1971; English)
- New York Times article, when women gained suffrage in the Liechtenstein.
- (1984; English)
- Scroll down for several PDFs of suffragette pamphlets and other relics of the women's rights movement.
- See also Interviews for Oral Histories
- From Institute on Gender Equality and Women's History
- (Dutch)
- Council of Europe Convention. Finally, with the Istanbul Convention, Europe is equipped with legally binding instruments to combat domestic violence and violence targeting women.
- (2011; English transcription)
Women’s Roles in Society
- Documents on famous women and the typical roles of women in society from ancient times onward.
- (English translations)
- Most of the themes on the epigrams for women are familiar: regret for death before marriage, sorrow for a mother who dies in childbirth, contrasts between young and old.
- From Diotima
- (English translation)
- Anthology of translated primary sources
- (English translations)
- A scholarly resource for the study of women's religious communities.
- See especially Cartularium for primary source documents and Figurae for digital images.
- (5th - 15th Centuries; facsimiles and commentary)
- This Salian Frankish civil law code has had a lasting impact on the legal tradition of modern German states. Under this law, women were not allowed to take the throne and were seen as lesser in regards to property and inheritance.
- From the Avalon Project
- (500; English translation)
- From attitudes to original sin to the roles of wives, mothers and nuns, Dr Alixe Bovey examines the role of women in medieval society. Includes a number of medieval manuscripts illustration such topics.
- (Middle ages; facsimiles; English interface)
- These women were rich and poor, privileged and unfortunate, led traditional and pioneering lives and made a huge difference to their family, friends and wider society. We have digitised letters, diaries, medical case notes, etc.
- (1100-present)
- This short Treatise, cast as usual in the form of a Letter, is probably the earliest humanist tract upon Education expressly dedicated to a Lady; just as Baptista di Montefeltro, to whom it is addressed, may stand as the first of the succession of studious women who were a characteristic product of the Renaissance.
- From the Hanover Historical Texts Collection
- (15th century; English translation)
- From Les anciennes hystoires rommaines. The Caesarian section, illustrated here, was only attempted if the mother was dead or dying as it was such a dangerous procedure during the Middle Ages.
- From the British Library
- (1400; facsimile)
- During medieval times, pregnant women in labour were attended to by midwives, whose understanding of childbirth was learnt through practical experience rather than formal training.
- From the British Library
- (1450; facsimile)
- From the Internet Medieval Sourcebook.
- (Translations & transcriptions)
- ”Wherein is set downe the government of women. Together with the diseases, which happen to women in those times, and the meanes to help them. With a treatise for The nursing of children.” This is the first written methodology on assisted breech delivery.
- (1635; English translation from French)
- This selections gives "a sense of what the ideal roles and virtues for such women were. It was commonly believed...that women were the weaker sex, physically inferior to men and more prone to irrationality...However, [there] were the traits of gentleness and softness...which some saw as indicating a sense of feminine moral equality, if not superiority, to men.
- From Women in World History
- (late 17th century; English transcription)
- Selection of images reflecting literary and cultural history and the role of women during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
- (18th-19th centuries; facsimile images)
- Although Voltaire's work, The Education of Girls, is but a hypothetical dialogue, it serves to suggest the possibilities of what could happen when girls receive an education: independent thinking, freedom of choice, inspired taste without corrupted morals, and the ability to be cultivated rather than just a doll for adjustment and display.
- From Athena
- (1761; French transcription)
- Digital library of sources for Italian women's history.
- (19th century to present; social and political manifests, newspapers, journals, books and documents; Italian)
- Sections of the Victorian Web.
- (1813 - 1892; transcriptions; English)
- This is a book written for parents on how to raise young daughters and sons, including his insights into child psychology, with topics including the importance of female education, the first foundations of education, principles of religion, defects among girls and the duties of women. French version HERE.
- (1687; English translation from French; book facsimile)
- Newspapers, political cartoons, autobiographies and other primary sources demonstrate women's education, employment, and overall roles in society.
- (1917-1938; English translation)
- From Florence Farmborough, With the Armies of the Tsar: A Nurse at the Russian Front in War and Revolution
- Made available by Women in World History
- (1917; English transcription)
- By Alexandra Kollontai. "The women who took part in the Great October Revolution – who were they? Isolated individuals? No, there were hosts of them...marching side by side with the workers and peasants behind the Red Flag."
- From Marxists Internet Archive
- (1927, English translation)
- Scroll down for collection of posters, songs, photographs, speeches and letters from the time of the Civil War
- In cooperation with Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
- (Spanish and English transcriptions; facsimiles; photographs)
- Webpage of journalists, photographers and broadcasters during WWII.
- (1939-1945; English; facsimiles and photos)
- 23 interviews with Irish women in which they recount their experience of living though the Second World War/The Emergency. Some of these testimonies are from women who worked in Belfast (a city at war); others are from women who worked in Dublin (a neutral city); while others are from women who chose to take up war work in Britain.
- (1939-1945; English)
- (1939-1945; facsimiles)
- Based on interviews of women in Estonian villages
- (1984-1989; English transcription; photographs)
- Take a journey through the personal, political and economic struggles that have symbolised women's battle for equality over the past 500 years, through a representative selection of the broad range of materials.
- (English; facsimiles and photos)
Women’s Voices
- Women’s Voices in Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire
- Ancient women and their works
- Special thanks to Other Women’s Voices
- (600 BC-867 BC; facsimiles; Latin, English and Spanish transcriptions)
- Correspondence of medieval women. Includes English translations of the original Latin, which is also included.
- Also browse by author.\
- Also see genelogy of the women involved (zoomable PDF in English).
- (4th-13th century; English, Latin transcriptions)
- Women’s Voices: Old Germany
- Ancient women and their works
- Special thanks to Other Women’s Voices
- (561-1282; German facsimiles and English translations)
- Includes letters from multiple women such as Anne Boleyn, Mary Queen of Scots, Charlotte Brontë, and a maidservant.
- (15th-19th century; English transcription)
- See also Letters written during her travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa
- As wife of the British ambassador in Turkey, she was the first women to write secularly on the the Muslim Orient; she also introduced smallpox inoculation to Britain and wrote in a way that questioned the modern views of women as intellectually and socially lesser.
- (beginning 1716; English transcription)
- Preview selections from the book. "Accepting this situation as given, she boldly and fearlessly promotes her business, her family and her faith. This memoir is a document in the history of women and of life in the seventeenth century."
- (1719; English)
- Transcriptions of works by British women writers of the 19th century.
- (19th century; transcriptions)
- Women's Experiences in the British Empire
- Letter of Mary Moffat, wife of a missionary in southern Africa.
- Travel Narrative of Mary Kingsley, who visited West Africa during the Age of New Imperialism
- Lady Florentia Sale, wife of Major-General Sir Robert Henry Sale, journal the First Afghan War.
- Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands, a professional relied upon by soldiers for medical treatment during the Crimean War
- My Three Years in Manipur and Escape from the Recent Mutiny
- Autobiography of Buchi Emecheta, a Nigerian woman who immigrated to Britain
- (1828-1986; English transcriptions)
- "Russian Social-Democrat from 1890s, active in international Socialist Women's movement, and a member of the Mensheviks before 1914. Elected to Central Committee in 1917 and Commissar for Social Welfare in the Soviet government."
- (1907-1946; English translation)
- She was a Czech politician who focused on women's role in society and on democracy. She survived a concentration camp at Terezin after being involved in the underground resistance, but after the war she became a victim of judicial murder by the communist party. Included are letters written on the day of her execution.
- From Women in World History
- (1950; English translation)
Opinions Against Women’s Equality
- A satirical chronicle, "reveal[ing] contemporary medical views of feminine irrationality, believed to be caused by the uterus’s haphazard wandering about the female body," also called hysteria, "an ancient Greek idea revived during the European Renaissance."
- From Women in World History
- (1532-1552; Enlgihs translation)
- John Knox's infamous diatribe against female rule.
- (1558; English)
- Viennese Adele Crepaz explains her opposition to women's suffrage due to already-existent female superiority: "A girl's intelligence is quicker, her ambition greater, her moral consciousness more highly developed...Let us suppose women's equality with man to be an established fact, we then have the woman standing side by side with man in the great arena of life, fighting for the same aims, the same rights, unconsciously, without will or intention, injuring his interests."
- More information about the book and its effects found HERE.
- (1893; English translation; book facsimile)
EuroDocs > European Sources by Topic > Europe: Women's Roles and Rights
EuroDocs Creator: Richard Hacken, European Studies Librarian,
Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA.
Feel free to get in touch: Hacken @ byu.edu