[ANSTHRLD] Re: married names for women

[Predslava at aol.com]

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In a message dated 6/26/2001 1:33:28 PM Central Daylight Time,
magnus77840 at hotmail.com writes:


> In Russian you use the husband's name with zhena but
> I would have to look up the exact endings.  However
> Russians considered women to be the property of the
>

Oh, why did you have to get me on my soap box?

OTH, even academics perpetuate the myth of women as slaves in medieval Russia.

Women were not property. Women HAD property -- independantly of their
husbands, whom they could (and did) take to court for stealing their wife's
property. And this included lands, serfs, slaves, anything.

Women had rights. Yes, divorce was as hard and unfair as anyplace else, but
the concept of marital rape was real and upheld by the church, and was
punished by heavy penance, and as we all know, spiritual punishment was
sometimes worse than physical.

Yes, women often exchanged their patronymic for a "wife-of" form, as a
byname. But in our period, family names were hardly used at all, and then
only by the highest nobility in very late period. And women did not *always*
use the "wife-of" form, and could even continue using they patronymic if
their father was important enough. Yes, "wife-of" forms were often the only
name used to recognize a woman in court proceedings, but not always!

And please, *women were not property* in Russia, not in our period! Remember,
the dowry went to the bride and remained hers, never the husbands'! And women
could, and did rule, even if it was only as regents for husbands away playing
at war, or children too young to take their place, or even for husbands
exiled!

OK, off my soap box. But you can see how I can't help get on it sometimes.

***********************
Predslava Vydrina
Per fess embattled azure and gules, two otters passant or.
Bjornsborg, Ansteorra
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