Editing Women's rights (section)

=== Post-classical history ===

[[File:Dahomey amazon1.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|[[Dahomey Amazons]] were a [[Fon people|Fon]] all-female military regiment of the [[Kingdom of Dahomey]].]]

==== Religious scriptures ====

===== Bible =====
{{Main|Women in the Bible}}
Both before and during biblical times, the roles of women in society were severely restricted.<ref>{{cite web|last=Robinson|first=B.A.|title=The status of women in the Bible and in early Christianity|publisher=Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance|year=2010|url=http://www.religioustolerance.org/fem_bibl.htm|access-date=11 September 2010}}</ref> Nonetheless, in the Bible, women are depicted as having the right to represent themselves in court,<ref name="Hiers2012">{{cite book|last1=Hiers|first1=Richard H.|title=Women's Rights and the Bible: Implications for Christian Ethics and Social Policy|date=2012|publisher=Pickwick Publications|location=Eugene, Oregon|isbn=978-1-61097-627-5|url=https://archive.org/details/womensrightsbibl0000hier|url-access=registration|quote=women's rights in the Bible.|access-date=15 October 2017}}</ref>{{rp|56–62}} the ability to make contracts,<ref name="Hiers2012"/>{{rp|63–67}} and the rights to purchase, own, sell, and inherit property.<ref name="Hiers2012"/>{{rp|63–80}} The Bible guarantees women the right to sex with their husbands<ref name=CawBiblic>{{cite web |last1=Frank L. Caw, Jr. |title=Biblical Divorce And Re-Marriage |url=http://www.frankcaw.com/divorce-print.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030812232627/http://www.frankcaw.com/divorce-print.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 August 2003 |access-date=19 October 2015 }}</ref><ref name=Caw2005>{{cite book |last1=Frank L. Caw, Jr. |title=The Ultimate Deception |date=10 February 2005 |publisher=1st Book Library |isbn=978-0-7596-4037-5 |url=http://www.frankcaw.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980110011803/http://frankcaw.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 January 1998 |access-date=19 October 2015 }}</ref> and orders husbands to feed and clothe their wives.<ref name=CawBiblic/><ref name=Caw2005/> Breach of these Old Testament rights by a polygamous man gave the woman grounds for divorce.<ref name=CawBiblic/><ref name=Caw2005/>

===== Qur'an =====
{{See also|Early reforms under Islam|Women in Islam|Islamic feminism|Sex segregation and Islam|Concubinage in Islam}}
The [[Qur'an]] prescribes limited rights for women in [[marriage in Islam|marriage]], [[divorce in Islam|divorce]], and [[Islamic inheritance jurisprudence|inheritance]]. By providing that the wife, not her family, would receive a dowry from the husband, which she could administer as her personal property, the Qur'an made women a legal party to the [[Islamic marriage contract|marriage contract]].<ref>[[John L. Esposito|Esposito, John L.]], with DeLong-Bas, Natana J. (2001). ''Women in Muslim Family Law'', 2nd revised Ed. [https://books.google.com/books?id=MOmaDq8HKCgC&q=islam+early+reforms+women%27s+rights+Esposito Available here via GoogleBooks preview]. Syracuse University Press. {{ISBN|0-8156-2908-7}} p. 4.</ref>

While in customary law, inheritance was often limited to male descendants, the Qur'an included rules on inheritance with certain fixed shares being distributed to designated heirs, first to the nearest female relatives and then the nearest male relatives.<ref>Esposito (with DeLong-Bas) 2001, pp. 4–5.</ref> According to [[Annemarie Schimmel]] "compared to the pre-Islamic position of [Arab] women, [[Fiqh|Islamic legislation]] meant an enormous progress; the woman has the right, at least according to the [[Letter and spirit of the law|letter of the law]], to administer the wealth she has brought into the family or has earned by her own work."<ref>{{Cite book| last = Schimmel| first = Annemarie| title = Islam | publisher = SUNY Press| year = 1992| page = 65| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=m7oKd-H1BzYC| isbn = 978-0-7914-1327-2}}</ref>

For [[Arab women]], Islam included the prohibition of [[female infanticide]] and recognizing women's full personhood.<ref name="OxfordDicT">Esposito (2004), p. 339.</ref> Women generally gained greater rights than women in [[pre-Islamic Arabia]]<ref name="Espos">[[John Esposito]], ''Islam: The Straight Path'' p. 79.</ref><ref name="majid">[[Majid Khadduri]], ''Marriage in Islamic Law: The Modernist Viewpoints'', American Journal of [[Comparative law]], Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 213–18.</ref> and [[Middle Ages|medieval Europe]].<ref>Encyclopedia of religion, second edition, Lindsay Jones, p. 6224, {{ISBN|978-0-02-865742-4}}.</ref> Women were not accorded such legal status in other cultures until centuries later.<ref>Lindsay Jones, p. 6224.</ref> According to Professor [[William Montgomery Watt]], when seen in such a historical context, [[Muhammad]] "can be seen as a figure who testified on behalf of women's rights."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alastairmcintosh.com/articles/2000_watt.htm |first1=Bashir |last1=Maan |first2=Alastair |last2=McIntosh |title=Interview with Prof William Montgomery Watt |publisher=Alastair McIntosh's Home Page |date=27 May 2005 |access-date=30 August 2011}}</ref>

==== Western Europe ====
[[File:Medieval women hunting.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Women performing tasks during the Middle Ages]]

Women's rights were protected already by the early Medieval Christian Church: one of the first formal legal provisions for the right of wives was promulgated by [[Council of Agde|council of Adge]] in 506, which in Canon XVI stipulated that if a young married man wished to be ordained, he required the consent of his wife.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QIjEVrB3b4kC&pg=PA185|title=Archaeology of Frankish Church Councils, AD 511–768|last=Halfond|first=Gregory I.|date=2010|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-9004179769|language=en}}</ref>

The English Church and culture in the Middle Ages regarded women as weak, irrational, vulnerable to temptation, and constantly needing to be kept in check.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|title = Women in England in the middle ages|last = Ward|first = Jennifer|publisher = A & C Black|year = 2006|isbn = 978-1852853464|location = New York|pages = 3–4}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=August 2017}} This was reflected on the Christian culture in England through the story of [[Adam and Eve]] where Eve fell to Satan's temptations and led Adam to eat the apple. This belief was based on St. Paul,{{Cn|date=October 2024}} that the pain of childbirth was a punishment for this deed that led mankind to be banished from the Garden of Eden.<ref name=":6" /> Women's inferiority also appears in much medieval writing; for example, the 1200 AD theologian [[Jacques de Vitry]] (who was rather sympathetic to women over others) emphasized female obedience towards their men and described women as slippery, weak, untrustworthy, devious, deceitful and stubborn.<ref name=":6" /> The church also promoted the [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Virgin Mary]] as a role model for women to emulate by being innocent in her sexuality, being married to a husband and eventually becoming a mother. That was the core purpose set out both culturally and religiously across Medieval Europe.<ref name=":6" /> Rape was also seen in medieval England{{Cn|date=October 2024}} as a crime against the father or husband and a violation of their protection and guardianship of the women whom they look after in the household.<ref name=":6" /> Women's identities in the Middle Ages were also referred through their relations with men they associated with, such as "his daughter" or "so and so's wife".<ref name=":6" /> Despite all this, the Church still emphasized the importance of love and mutual counselling within marriage and prohibited any form of divorce so the wife would have someone to look after her.{{Cn|date=October 2024}}
[[File:Women activities in middle ages.JPG|thumb|upright=1.1|Royal women's activities in the Middle Ages]]
In overall Europe during the Middle Ages, women were inferior to men in legal status.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|title = Women's Roles in the Middle Ages|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Z4SL2X3uHEAC|publisher = Greenwood Publishing Group|date = 1 January 2007|isbn = 9780313336355|first = Sandy|last = Bardsley}}</ref> Throughout medieval Europe, women were pressured to not attend courts and leave all legal business affairs to their husbands. In the legal system, women were regarded as the property of men so any threat or injury to them was the duty of their male guardians.<ref name=":7" />

In Irish law, women were forbidden to act as witnesses in courts.<ref name=":7" /> In Welsh law, women's testimony could be accepted towards other women but not against men, but Welsh laws, specifically [[Cyfraith Hywel|The Laws of Hywel Dda]], also reflected accountability for men to pay child maintenance for children born out of wedlock, which empowered women to claim rightful payment.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Women, Linen and Gender in the Cyfraith Hywel Dda – Laidlaw Scholarships|url=https://laidlawscholarships.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/2019/06/26/women-linen-and-gender-in-the-cyfraith-hywel-dda/|access-date=2020-10-09|website=laidlawscholarships.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk|archive-date=22 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922190110/https://laidlawscholarships.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/2019/06/26/women-linen-and-gender-in-the-cyfraith-hywel-dda/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In France, women's testimony had to corroborate with other accounts or it would not be accepted.<ref name=":7" /> Although women were expected to not attend courts,{{Cn|date=October 2024}} this however was not always true. Sometimes, regardless of expectations, women did participate and attend court cases and court meetings. But women could not act as justices in courts, be attorneys or members of a jury, or accuse another person of a felony unless it was the murder of her husband.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Women in Medieval Western European Culture|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=k09yF2Ub-pYC&q=women+in+middle+ages+law&pg=PA113|publisher = Routledge|date = 12 November 2012|isbn = 9781136522031|first = Linda E.|last = Mitchell}}</ref> For the most part, the best thing a woman could do in medieval courts was to observe the legal proceedings taking place.{{Cn|date=October 2024}}

Swedish law protected women from the authority of their husbands by transferring the authority to their male relatives.<ref name="Beattie">{{Cite book|title = Married Women and the Law in Premodern Northwest Europe|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=36uGH4HNUWoC|publisher = Boydell Press|date = 1 January 2013|isbn = 9781843838333|first1 = Cordelia|last1 = Beattie|first2 = Matthew Frank|last2 = Stevens}}</ref> A wife's property and land also could not be taken by the husband without her family's consent but neither could the wife.<ref name="Beattie"/> This meant a woman could not transfer her property to her husband without her family or kinsman's consent either. In Swedish law, a woman would also only get half that of her brother in inheritance.<ref name="Beattie"/> Despite these legal issues, Sweden was largely ahead and much superior in its treatment towards women than most European countries.{{Cn|date=October 2024}}

Medieval marriages among the elites were arranged in a way that would meet the interests of the family as a whole.<ref name=":7" /> Theoretically a woman needed to consent before a marriage took place and the Church encouraged this consent to be expressed in present tense and not future.<ref name=":7" /> Marriage could also take place anywhere and the minimum age for girls was 12, while it was 14 for boys.<ref name=":7" />

==== Northern Europe ====

The rate of [[Weregild|Wergild]] suggested that women in these societies were valued mostly for their breeding purposes. The Wergild of woman was double that of a man with the same status in the [[Alemannic German|Aleman]] and [[Bavaria]]n legal codes.<ref name=":8">{{Cite book|title = Women in Dark Age and Early Medieval Europe|last = Jewell|first = Helen M|publisher = Palgrave Macmillan|year = 2007|isbn = 978-0333912591|location = New York|pages = 37–39}}</ref> The Wergild of a woman meanwhile was triple that of a man with the same status in [[Salian Franks|Salic]] and Repuarian legal codes for women of child-bearing age, which constituted from 12 to 40 years old.<ref name=":8" /> One of the most Germanic codes from the [[Lombards|Lombard]] tradition legislated that women be under the control of a male ''mundoald'', which constituted her father, husband, older son or eventually the king as a last resort if she had no male relatives.<ref name=":8" /> A woman needed her mundold's permission to manage property but still could own her own lands and goods. Certain areas with [[Visigoths|Visigothic]] inheritance laws until the 7th century were favorable to women while all other laws were not.<ref name=":8" /> Before the Christianization of Europe, there was little space for women's consent for marriage and marriage through purchase (or ''Kaufehe'') was actually the civil norm, as opposed to the alternative marriage through capture (or ''Raubehe'').<ref name=":8" /> However Christianity was slow to reach other Baltic and Scandinavian areas with it only reaching King [[Harald Bluetooth]] of Denmark in the year 950 AD.<ref name=":8" /> Those living under [[Norwegians|Norwegian]] and [[Iceland]]ic laws used marriages to forge alliances or create peace, usually without the women's say or consent.<ref name=":8" /> However divorce rights were permitted to women who suffered physical abuse but protections from harm were not given to those termed "wretched" women such as beggars, servants and slave women. Having sex with them through force or without consent usually had no legal consequence or punishment.<ref name=":8" />

During the [[Viking Age]], women had a relatively free status in the Nordic countries of Sweden, Denmark and Norway, illustrated in the Icelandic [[Grágás]] and the Norwegian [[Frostating]] laws and [[Gulating]] laws.<ref name="ReferenceA">Borgström Eva {{in lang|sv}}: Makalösa kvinnor: könsöverskridare i myt och verklighet (Marvelous women : gender benders in myth and reality) Alfabeta/Anamma, Stockholm 2002. {{ISBN|91-501-0191-9}} (inb.). Libris 8707902.</ref>
The paternal aunt, paternal niece and paternal granddaughter, referred to as ''odalkvinna'', all had the right to inherit property from a deceased man.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> In the absence of male relatives, an unmarried woman with no son could, furthermore, inherit not only property, but also the position as head of the family from a deceased father or brother. A woman with such status was referred to as ''[[ringkvinna]]'', and she exercised all the rights afforded to the head of a family clan, such as the right to demand and receive fines for the slaughter of a family member, unless she married, by which her rights were transferred to her husband.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

After the age of 20, an unmarried woman, referred to as ''maer'' and ''mey'', reached legal majority, had the right to decide her place of residence, and was regarded as her own person before the law.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
An exception to her independence was the right to choose a marriage partner, as marriages were normally arranged by the clan.<ref>Borgström Eva{{in lang|sv}}: Makalösa kvinnor: könsöverskridare i myt och verklighet (Marvelous women : gender benders in myth and reality) Alfabeta/Anamma, Stockholm 2002. {{ISBN|91-501-0191-9}} (inb.). Libris 8707902.</ref> Widows enjoyed the same independent status as unmarried women.
Women had religious authority and were active as priestesses (''gydja'') and oracles (''sejdkvinna'');<ref name="ReferenceB">Ingelman-Sundberg, Catharina, ''Forntida kvinnor: jägare, vikingahustru, prästinna'' [Ancient women: hunters, viking wife, priestess], Prisma, Stockholm, 2004</ref> within art as poets (''skalder'')<ref name="ReferenceB"/> and [[rune master]]s; and as merchants and medicine women.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> They may also have been active within military office: the stories about [[shieldmaiden]]s are unconfirmed, but some archaeological finds such as the [[Birka female Viking warrior]] may indicate that at least some women in military authority existed. A married woman could divorce her husband and remarry.<ref name="ReferenceC">Ohlander, Ann-Sofie & Strömberg, Ulla-Britt, Tusen svenska kvinnoår: svensk kvinnohistoria från vikingatid till nutid, 3. (A Thousand Swedish Women's Years: Swedish Women's History from the Viking Age until now), [omarb. och utök.] uppl., Norstedts akademiska förlag, Stockholm, 2008</ref>

It was also socially acceptable for a free woman to cohabit with a man and have children with him without marrying him, even if that man was married; a woman in such a position was called ''frilla''.<ref name="ReferenceC"/> There was no distinction made between children born inside or outside of marriage: both had the right to inherit property after their parents, and there were no "legitimate" or "illegitimate" children.<ref name="ReferenceC"/>
These liberties gradually disappeared after the introduction of Christianity, and from the late 13th century, they are no longer mentioned.<ref name="Anamma 2002">Borgström Eva {{in lang|sv}}: ''Makalösa kvinnor: könsöverskridare i myt och verklighet'' (''Marvelous women : genderbenders in myth and reality'') Alfabeta/Anamma, Stockholm 2002. {{ISBN|91-501-0191-9}} (inb.). Libris 8707902.</ref> During the Christian Middle Ages, the [[Medieval Scandinavian law]] applied different laws depending on the local county law, signifying that the status of women could vary depending on which county she was living in.