The Prospect Before Her: A History of Women in Western Europe

How did women in sixteenth-century Western Europe cope with the consequences of being considered inherently sinful—as well as being legally and economically subordinate to their fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons? What might become of a woman unable to raise a dowry? What were the difficulties faced by spinsters, single mothers, and widows? In this brilliant investigation into the lives of women from all social strata, Hufton leads readers from poor-house to palazzo, from cradle to grave, illuminating what it meant to be female in Western Europe during the years 1500 to 1800.