Darlene Abreu-Ferreira, University of Winnipeg, published "Women, law and legal intervention in early modern Portugal" in the journal, Continuity and Change 33:3 (Dec.2018), 293-313. Here is the abstract:
Early modern Portuguese women had the legal right to engage in a number of official transactions, including granting and receiving sureties and powers of attorney. This was not the case for women in many other parts of western Europe, making the Portuguese example worthy of scrutiny for comparative purposes. This article looks at the unique position of women in early modern Portugal, and shows that upon close examination of the archival sources, the evidence points to a significant gap between women's legal rights and the cultural limitations that were imposed on women.Further information is available here.
