Constructing Consent in Court: Marriage Decisions and Gendered Selfhood in Europe during the Age of Revolutions

Legal sources offer a perspective through which to interrogate the evolving meanings of consent and the nature of the agency of young women. This paper draws on French and German legal and sources from the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries, in particular case records of various secular and church tribunals involved in questions of marriage and sexual relationships. Complementing other sources about marriage negotiations, legal sources record the spoken testimony of young women across a wide range of social conditions.