“Siendo Una Pobre Mujer": Women, Sevicias, and Violence in the Platina Region, Asunción, and Paranaguá, in the 18th Century

Theoretically, the sacrament of marriage was regarded as indissoluble under the Iberian-American normative framework of the early modern period. Death was considered the only means by which the bond between husband and wife could be severed, which is why marriage was perceived as eternal during one’s lifetime. However, women had recourse to a legal mechanism through which they could petition ecclesiastical courts for either permanent or temporary separation of cohabitation: the divortium. One of the primary grounds for the requirement of divortium under canon law was adultery, but the separation was also permitted in cases where there was a threat to the spouse’s soul or the body. In this context, divortium became a widely utilized tool for women seeking to end cohabitation with their husbands due to acts of sevicia.

Sevicia is commonly described in historical sources as the "inhumane" mistreatment of women by their husbands. Such mistreatment often took the form of beatings, blows, hair-pulling, death threats, and financial deprivation. The most frequent claim among women who appealed to ecclesiastical authorities – who could grant a swift decision for the woman to be placed in the household of a reputable person even before the case was concluded – was that they found themselves in a state of destitution, as impoverished women. Miserability and poverty, therefore, emerged as central arguments presented by women in court to justify the dissolution of marriages that had become detrimental to their wellbeing. This paper examines cases of sevicias reported by women to ecclesiastical courts in two cities across the Río de la Plata region, Asunción and Paranaguá, throughout the 18th century. It explores women's perceptions of misery and poverty within their households, as well as their understandings of justice.