Századok – 2019
2019 / 2. szám - NŐI KOMMUNIKÁCIÓS MÉDIUMOK, TEREK ÉS RITUÁLÉK A 16–18. SZÁZADBAN - Géra Eleonóra: Budai nők a hatóságok előtt a 18. század elején
GÉRA ELEONÓRA 289 WOMEN FROM BUDA IN FRONT OF THE AUTHORITIES IN THE EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY By Eleonóra Géra SUMMARY As in other towns, honest women in Buda, watchful of their reputations, only rarely turned to the authorities either in person or in writing. This, however, did not mean that they took no part in managing family affairs. It happened sometimes that they had to proceed in official affairs, which they were only allowed to do with the consent and authorisation of the head of the family. It was only as widows that women gained the right to act in their own name without male help. Yet only those could profit from the relative independence allowed by widowhood who disposed of sufficient culture and wealth, who had previously been drawn by their husbands into the running of the family economy, and could count on the support of their kin. In a patriarchal system, in such cases they did not act in their own right but deputized for the deceased head of the family. Thus, the authority of the widow was temporary, for it generally ended with her marriage or that of her children.
