Domestic violence in the 18th century Transylvania

This paper examines family violence in the 18th century Transylvania with a focus on two major themes: child maltreatment and intimate partner violence. The topic will be explored based on records and documents produced by secular and ecclesiastical courts. The primary goal of the current study is twofold—to analyze the legal consequences of family violence and to investigate the construction of the narratives surrounding these trials. Emphasis will be placed on the differences in approaches to domestic violence in the aforementioned sources and a few illustrations of the way hierarchical violence was perpetuated in these documents will be provided.