Normally, we are more or less familiar with many cultures of other countries, even if they seem strange to us. However, this past of England reveals what we can call its dark history. If we leave aside the past order dominated by wars, this tradition, which would normally never be expected from England, resembles the traditions of third world countries.
So what is the reason behind this tradition? “Did the women have consent or was there no other means available?” The answers to questions such as these are available in the content we will explain now:
One of the first reasons why this tradition was implemented was the cost and complexity of divorce at that time.
Due to the cost and complexity of divorce, those in the 1750s who wanted to end their marriages preferred spousal sales rather than a formal divorce process. This interesting solution was frequently seen in society and was considered a kind of fake divorce.
Normally, there was no legal obstacle to divorce, but the fact that divorce was expensive and took a long time was sometimes challenging for both parties. Spousal sales emerged to bypass these legal hurdles and provide a divorce alternative within society.
Even though it’s not technically legal; Spousal sales provided a form of fake divorce by showing that the seller had given up all of his ex-spouse’s assets. The whole property part is important here because in England at that time, everything a woman owned belonged to her husband.
The husband would take his wife to public places such as markets or fairs, tie her with a rope/ribbon, and then display her.
Here, he would tell the audience about his ex-wife’s generally positive qualities and then put her up for auction. Sometimes the husband would even publicly announce that his wife would be sold before taking her to the auction to keep interest high. And it was put up for sale almost like a farm animal, so to speak.
However, it must be said that there is mostly consent from both parties. These separations, which were generally consensual, although unethical today, were a win-win situation for both parties at that time. So how exactly can it be win-win?
Because sometimes the woman who cheated on her husband was bought by her lover for a nominal amount.
Sometimes the women’s family would often purchase the woman to secure it, just to prevent her from being bought by someone else. In this way, they did not go to someone else and also got divorced.
We can almost hear you asking how the state could not intervene in this. In fact, even though the state tried to intervene in this situation, people were stoning and expelling people who tried to prevent this situation at that time.
For this reason, most government officials were starting to ignore this situation, and who knows, they might even have done it themselves. Because this situation was not fully controlled or it could be said that it was not wanted to be controlled.
How exactly did this tradition work? Let’s read these sentences from the mouth of the man who sold his wife:
“Gentlemen, I bring to your attention my wife, Mary Anne Thomson, alias Williams, whom I wish to sell to the highest bidder. Gentlemen, it is her desire as well as my own to be separated forever. She is a serpent in my bosom. I took her for the sake of comfort, but “He has been a trouble to me. Gentlemen, God save us from troublesome wives and pleasure-loving women. I will tell you of his good points… He can read novels and milk cows; he can make butter, rum, whiskey or gin. That is why I am selling him for 50 shillings.”
Unfortunately, all kinds of events that women have been exposed to in every period of history confront us even in the most developed countries. Aside from the state’s indifference, we think the sale of women like farm animals is one of the most shameful events in history. Don’t forget to express your thoughts in the comments.
Our other content on British history:
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