Women in early modern Brittany: Rethinking work and identity in a traditional economy

The traditional household model of production dictates that families lived according to a pattern in which the male head-of-household acted as the primary breadwinner while his spouse served as a partner or an assistant to his work. However, an exploration of social and economic aspects of Brittany during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries reveals the existence of a wide variety of household arrangements including unmarried women living alone or with roommates and rural-income marriages in the lower and middle classes. These household variations are illustrated in a series of comparative city profiles based on tax rolls, detailing the number of working women, their trades, marital status and level of income. Institutional records and private sources provide qualitative information regarding social life, support networks, legal status and both formal and informal economic opportunities.;A modified household model of production takes into account the variety of human experiences. Some women married and maintained a work identity unrelated to the work of their spouses, while others lived and worked alone or with other unmarried adult women. Furthermore, the work of women within traditionally structured households was of great value and formed an integral part of female identity. The identification of certain activities as properly feminine, such as food and clothing provision, allowed women to work in both formal and informal contexts. Whereas most independent women worked irregularly and for low wages, 5--10% of the sample lived comfortably as shopkeepers, and at least 1% were in the wealthy merchant class. Women made the most of economic opportunities within the constraints of a patriarchal system and exercised limited legal benefits to protect themselves and their families.