Claudia Contente

Precariousness or prosperity? The diverse faces of widowhood in rural Buenos Aires during the nineteenth century

Abstract In this article, I will explore the resources and capacities women could mobilize in the countryside of Buenos Aires at the beginning of the nineteenth century when they had to confront the domestic crisis triggered by their husbands’ death. It is of course essential to study the foreseeable options (taking over the helm of the family farm, seeking refuge with relatives, or quickly remarrying) they had and the role played by what are commonly considered as crucial resources (family composition, patrimony, and networks). This study nevertheless seeks to identify other factors (notably the legal framework, patterns of colonization, and widows’ own know-how and experiences as farmers and settlers) that bring to light the specificity of widowhood in rural Buenos Aires during this period. As a consequence, the juridical aspects of inheritance proceedings and the concrete practices they reveal will be analyzed before I examine the wide social spectrum (namely the inhabitants of San Antonio de Areco, La Matanza, Quilmes, and San Vicente, four areas of rural Buenos Aires) registered by the censuses of 1813 and 1815.