Original scientific paper

“She got as much as her parents gave her, and not according to the law!” Changes in woman’s status in farm families in Prigorje and Hrvatsko Zagorje between the two world wars

Suzana Leček ; Hrvatski institut za povijest, Zagreb, Republika Hrvatska

Abstract

The article describes the manner in which general social, economic and legal changes influenced farm families. The possibility of application of the civil law, according to which a woman had the right to inherit land, as well as the increasingly strong role of women (as labour force, but also as family members with their own sources of income through the “women’s” trade, and sometimes due to their better capacities than their husbands’ for trade and representing of family in public affairs) reinforced the status of women, although it was not shown yet in the mentality or expressed in public. As was the case in other counties, the common law of inheritance was being abandoned slowly and with hardships. When determining a farmland heir, between the two wars, two principles were applied: the principle stemming from the traditional communal household law, and the new civil-law principle. According to the first principle, direct male heirs inherited land (patrilinear principle), and the older generation did not have the right to decide on the issue; and according to the other one, owner of the land had the right to decide on the heirs (limited only by the right to a necessary portion). These two opposing legal principles
in reality enabled one to find various solutions, suitable to one’s economic capabilities and personal attitude. Wherever possible, the rule that the land was to be left to sons, and daughters were given
only the traditional dowry, was still being respected. But, the legal right resulted in the increasingly frequent position that land was a part of dowry. If a daughter could not get her piece of land, it was considered that she was entitled to a buy-out, if necessary in deferred
payment. Unless bought out in any form, a daughter could claim her share in inheritance proceedings after the parent’s death. To avoid this, after the dowry was agreed on, a daughter was requested to renounce any further heritage claims. Inheriting by women worsened
the already great fragmentation of land, due to which not all sons could get their part. Women’s right to get a piece of land on one side, and insufficiently large farms, from which they should get a share, on the other, led to increased “bargaining” between parents and the families the girls married into, where the discussions were always dominated by men. Although women could not decide on the land issues, as they did not own it, the land meant prestige and a better status in their husbands’ families. The change in the status of women can be observed from the distribution of work according to the sexes. In reduced families, traditional distribution could not be kept as strict as earlier. Nevertheless, women were taking on men’s duties much more often than the other way round, especially in the incomplete families. Unequal possibility of another marriage, which in case of women almost did not exist, contributed to this fact. In small families, women were able to stand out owing to their abilities, and become heads of families. Status of women was based primarily on their economic role (irreplaceable labour force, her own sources of income through “women’s” trade), and also on the increasing possibility that they would inherit land (the main capital one lives on). Although the families, in which women played the leading role, were becoming more numerous, the traditional patriarchal understanding of women’s role and duties did not change significantly.

Keywords

Hrčak ID:

28740

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/28740

Publication date:

11.2.2002.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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