Despre condiția femeii în procesele de divorț ale Protopiatului Sibiu (1860-1918)
The Condition of Women in the Divorce Files of the Sibiu Deanery (1860-1918)

Summary/Abstract: The presentation is concerned with the motivation for divorces found in the papers from the Sibiu Deanery for the period 1865-1918. It must be stated that until the middle of the 19th century the documentary sources are scarcer regarding the divorces within the Transylvanian Romanian space. Moreover, there are few if any details on the matter. The topic is analysed concerning at least two main perspectives. The first one is represented by the manner in which the lay laws and the Orthodox Church of Transylvania before 1867 related to marriage and divorce. The second perspective concerns the internal mechanism of the divorce procedure. The witnesses' depositions from the involved families and from the community of ferus the chance to analyse the condition of women. The divorce trials are analysed according to 5 big motivational categories: wandering, medical causes, aversion to marriage, adultery and hatred. The conclusions after studying over 300 cases of divorce from the Sibiu Deanery delineate the condition of women in the Romanian village. The conclusions revolve around the traditional role played by women in the first half of the 19th century. It remains to answer if these documents are enough to support a beginning of women's emancipation process in the Transylvanian space.

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