The making of modern marriage : matrimonial control and the rise of sentiment in Neuchâtel, 1550-1800 /

Watt's statistical and anecdotal analysis of 4,100 court cases in a western principality of Switzerland is superbly bolstered by argument from contemporary theory and the impressive research on the family published over the past 20 years. The author juxtaposes the "Reformation and Seventeenth Century" with that of the 18th-century "Prussian Era," arguing convincingly "that the early modern period was decisive for the history of the family." Marriage in Neuchatel evolved from a contract based on convenience to one of love and inclination. Watt divides cases brought before matrimonial courts and consistories into those concerning disputes over the formation of marriage (breach of contract, premarital and illicet sex, seduction) and those concerning the breakdown of marriage (divorce on the grounds of abandonment, desertion, adultery, cruelty). The adoption of Protestantism permitted greater leniency for the formation and dissolution of marriage, although "married couples were expected to stay married." Greater numbers of women sought and obtained separation and divorce on grounds of cruelty and incompatibility, which Watt concludes were signs of legal equality between the sexes and an anticipation of modern marriage laws. Undergraduate; graduate; faculty. J. E. Brink; Texas Tech University