VUB Contextual Research in Law

     Dr. Marie-Sophie Silan  (PhD in Law, Assistant Professor at the University of Liège, Service de droit romain et droit privé comparé, Centre Liégeois d’Histoire du Droit) Wives and Mothers: The Legal Position of Women within Marriage in Early Modern Liège  (16th-17th centuries) Abstract This contribution explores the legal status of married women in Liège during the 16th and 17th centuries. It first examines the role of women as wives, particularly their legal relationship with their husbands. Central to this discussion is the  mainplévie  regime, which governed married women unless otherwise stipulated in their marriage contract. This system not only subjected wives to marital authority—requiring obedience to their husband and restricting their legal capacity—but also stripped them of ownership over the assets they brought into the marriage, typically through their dowry. The second part of this study focuses on the legal relationship between moth...

     Dr. Marie-Sophie Silan  (PhD in Law, Assistant Professor at the University of Liège, Service de droit romain et droit privé comparé, Centre Liégeois d’Histoire du Droit) Wives and Mothers: The Legal Position of Women within Marriage in Early Modern Liège  (16th-17th centuries) Abstract This contribution explores the legal status of married women in Liège during the 16th and 17th centuries. It first examines the role of women as wives, particularly their legal relationship with their husbands. Central to this discussion is the  mainplévie  regime, which governed married women unless otherwise stipulated in their marriage contract. This system not only subjected wives to marital authority—requiring obedience to their husband and restricting their legal capacity—but also stripped them of ownership over the assets they brought into the marriage, typically through their dowry. The second part of this study focuses on the legal relationship between moth...

     Dr. Marie-Sophie Silan  (PhD in Law, Assistant Professor at the University of Liège, Service de droit romain et droit privé comparé, Centre Liégeois d’Histoire du Droit) Wives and Mothers: The Legal Position of Women within Marriage in Early Modern Liège  (16th-17th centuries) Abstract This contribution explores the legal status of married women in Liège during the 16th and 17th centuries. It first examines the role of women as wives, particularly their legal relationship with their husbands. Central to this discussion is the  mainplévie  regime, which governed married women unless otherwise stipulated in their marriage contract. This system not only subjected wives to marital authority—requiring obedience to their husband and restricting their legal capacity—but also stripped them of ownership over the assets they brought into the marriage, typically through their dowry. The second part of this study focuses on the legal relationship between moth...

In the second semester, the Contextual Research in Law research group will host a series of guest lectures and symposia: February 25, 2025 : Dr. Marie-Sophie Silan (Visiting Professor, ULiège) on Gender and Law in the Prince-Bishopric of Liège (English) [B 4.08, 12:30] March 13–15, 2025 : EUTopia Connected Learning Community Legal History Peak Event: Individual and Collective Rights in Legal History [Warwick] – For more information, contact Prof. Dr. Frederik Dhondt March 18, 2025 : Dr. François Pierrard (Postdoc, FRNS/UCLouvain) on Goswin de Fierlant and the Enlightened Codification of Criminal Law (Dutch) [B 4.08, 12:30] March 31, 2025 : Prof. Dr. Lauréline Fontaine (Université Paris 3 – Sorbonne Nouvelle) on The Constitution as a Social Fetish (English, Legal Theory Seminar) [C 4.09, 16:00] – For more information, contact Prof. Dr. Laurent De Sutter April 1, 2025 : Book presentation Coudenberg. Th...