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Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Yahoo
Abducting women: early modern Europe's solution to marital problems
Post-Medieval Europe (from the 16th to the 18th century), was when the patriarchal family became the entrenched norm. In this context, arranging marriages for women was a very important social strategy for sustaining family, lineage, and the community. The last word on the subject was, like practically all other decisions, left to men. When disputes arose over marriage, there was one very common solution: abducting the woman in question. This consisted of depositing a woman somewhere and locking her up for a period of time. This could have been in a convent, the residence of a respectable widow, or even a charitable home for the poor – the destination was determined by social class. The abduction of women is just one particularly eye-catching example of the various practices that families used to achieve their goals in this period. These goals could include securing a desired marital alliance, or shoring up a relationship in crisis. Abductions could affect both young or unmarried girls and married women. For the former, parents or guardians decided on an abduction if someone sought the girl's hand against her family's will, or if she herself disagreed with the opinion of her elders. For the latter, either the woman or her husband agreed to an abduction as a temporary break in cohabitation in order to rebuild the relationship, or to initiate divorce proceedings (something the Catholic world then understood as a mere separation of bodies). The involvement of the Church was crucial. It had the jurisdictional monopoly on marriage, and families sought the support or assent of the vicar of their diocese in order to legally proceed with an abduction. The ecclesiastical court also had the authority to order an abduction when divorce proceedings had already been initiated. This practice occurred alongside other support mechanisms, such as local networks of family or neighbours to help wives in dangerous or violent marital crises. Kidnapping a woman meant, in effect, confiscating her body, removing it from her daily life, reordering it, and making it conform. It was part of the logic that culturally underpinned marriage and the model of what a woman should be: domesticated, neither bold nor adventurous, and not prone to wandering. Women were supposed to love seclusion, and be devoted to the chores of a wife and mother. This model had been dictated by the majority of theologians, catechists and humanists, especially from the end of the Middle Ages and into the early Modern Age. Proponents included Juan Luis Vives and Friar Luis de León, authors of The Education of a Christian Woman and La perfecta casada (The Perfect Wife), respectively. Abducting a woman was in keeping with the ancient practice of raptio. This Latin word shares its etymology with the English word 'rape', but originally meant kidnapping a woman or women, either for marriage or other purposes. Although criminalised, it had its roots in the rituals of marriage formation, and it was not infrequently used by the community and the Church to calm or temper strong-willed parents. A young woman could thus be temporarily isolated from family pressures, leaving her able to decide freely whether or not to marry. Tensions between feudal lineages created the breeding ground, in the Middle Ages and beyond, for making their women's bodies the focus of male competitiveness and power relations. In parallel, canon law also understood that deviations such as female adultery deserved the punishment of confinement to conceal the woman's body. Once marriage annulments became possible, it was even advised that, after being disowned by her husband, the woman should enter a convent. Women's monasteries spread, and in many cases they hosted repudiated women who healed their souls and, metaphorically, their bodies. The abduction also had a doctrinal and theological meaning. Marriage was one body, a reminder of the union between Christ and his Church, and the woman was only one of its parts. Taking her away or out was supposed to have no other intention than to restore her to full health. Moreover, married women were supposed to set an example – hiding her away for a time diluted any threat that her bad example might pose to society. Although female abduction in marriage-related matters is understood as an instrument of repression, it has been shown that women also used it to free themselves. In the cases of married women being abducted, it was usually the women themselves who had taken legal action. For those living with an abusive husband, the ability to leave and be surrounded by people who were obliged by the Church to protect them was a very satisfactory alternative. When the Church ratified the necessity of free consent for the validity of marriage under the Council of Trent in 1563, many marriageable girls went directly to the vicar of their diocese to request their own abduction. In this way, they sought to distance themselves from the pressures of their parents or relatives, publicly demonstrating the importance of having their own space and time to reflect and make the most appropriate decision. In a way, they used the abduction not only to protest, but also to help reconfigure a model of marriage that, despite Catholic doctrine and norms, was controlled by family interests, and in which women's voices had little weight. Este artículo fue publicado originalmente en The Conversation, un sitio de noticias sin fines de lucro dedicado a compartir ideas de expertos académicos. Lee mas: Gifts that live on, from best bodices to money for bridge repairs: Women's wills in medieval France give a glimpse into their surprising independence The unique history of the only person who can preach to the pope Butchers, bakers, candlestick-makers − and prostitutes: The women working behind the scenes in papal Avignon Mariela Fargas Peñarrocha receives funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities - State Research Agency, project number PID2019-103970GB-I00.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Civilization 7's first in-game event postponed so Firaxis can 'prioritize quality-of-life improvements'
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Civilization 7 had a rougher-than-expected launch, thanks largely to changes that made it, as we said in our 76% review, "the most streamlined and pared-back the series has been in a long time"—and not always in a good way. The backlash was strong enough that developer Firaxis committed to fixes and improvements before Civ 7 was even in full release, and in a "check-in" posted today it shared details on what players can look forward to over the next couple months. The 1.1.0 update is set to go live on March 4 and will make further adjustments and fixes to Civilization 7's UI, which Firaxis said in February was the studio's "top priority." A number of gameplay changes will also be made, including "significant changes to the Modern Age's Cultural Legacy Path and Victory," and AI leaders will be better able to complete Cultural Victories. The update will also see the first half of the Crossroads of the World Collection go live, adding the new leader Ada Lovelace, the new civs Great Britain (Modern Age) and Carthage (Antiquity Age), and the Natural Wonder Pack including four new Natural Wonders: Machapuchare, Mount Fuji, Vihren, and Vinicunca to the game. All of this unfortunately means that the first in-game event, "Natural Wonder Battle," which was set to go live with the update on March 4, has been postponed "to allow us more time to prioritize quality-of-life improvements for players worldwide." A new date for the event hasn't been set but Firaxis said it will share more information when it can. The 1.1.1 update is scheduled to follow on March 25, and will include further UI updates and other changes. "Ongoing improvements to the User Interface continues to be a top priority for the development team," Firaxis wrote. "The updates being introduced on March 25 are just one part of a much larger plan that aims to improve the UI over the next several months." Bigger changes are also in the works: New map sizes, resource types, support for teams in multiplayer, a "One More Turn" button that will let players continue past the end of the Modern Age, mod tools and Steam Workshop support, and—you guessed it—still more UI improvements. Firaxis said it's currently "scoping the work" required to get it all done, and while some could arrive as early as April, other promised features and changes will take longer: "As always in development, plans can change and we'll have more details to share here in the weeks and months ahead as plans solidify." To be clear, Civilization 7 isn't a bad game, but it is something of a letdown, at least at this stage. As PC Gamer's Tyler Wilde pointed out, our 76% review score marks it as a good and recommended game, but it's a far cry from the 93% scores we bestowed on Civilization 5 and Civ 6, marking them both as among the best of the best. A more pronounced ambivalence is visible on Steam: Civilization 7's user rating remains stubbornly "mixed" and has actually been in a very slight decline through most of February, and there are still more people playing Civilization 6 on Steam than Civ 7. So there's no cause for panic at this point, but there's definitely work to be done. Civilization 7 review: Our verdictCiv 7 performance analysis: How it runsCiv 7 victory guide: All win conditionsHow Civ 7 towns/cities work: Settlements guideCiv 7 age transitions guide: Everything that changesView Deal
