Women in the city: Women as economic and legal actors in Valladolid, Spain: 1580--1620

This dissertation analyzes women's roles as economic and legal actors in the city of Valladolid, Spain during the period 1580 to 1620. The dissertation uses over two hundred civil cases from local, appellate, and university courts, as well as local and royal administrative records. Spanish women's rights to own and dispose of property separate from their male relatives made the city's economy resilient in the face of significant economic, demographic and political change. Women buttressed the urban economy by helping to preserve local concentrations of physical and human capital. Their contributions as producers, preservers, and distributors of wealth made the economy of Valladolid stronger and more flexible than would have been possible had they not been able to participate fully in the economy.