Urban Markets and Women’s Labor: Navigating Institutional Boundaries in Premodern Europe

Women played a crucial role in medieval and early modern urban economies, yet their labor opportunities greatly varied depending on local institutions. This book compares the guild-structured labor markets of Antwerp and Mechelen in Brabant with Bilbao's informal economy in Biscay during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. By analyzing these distinct institutional contexts, it offers a nuanced and multifaceted understanding of women’s economic roles in premodern Europe. Drawing on a wide range of legislative and judicial sources, the author demonstrates how legal frameworks, socioeconomic structures, and individual strategies shaped women’s activities in small-scale trade. By bridging institutional analysis and personal agency, Women and Work Through a Comparative Lens sheds new light on the interplay between labor organization and everyday practices in premodern Europe.