The Ottoman Empire undertook extensive reforms between 1839 and 1876, a period known as the Tanzimat (reorganization). Europeanized Ottoman bureaucrats and a series of decrees from the sultan shaped these reforms that sought administrative, military,… [more]

Although marriage was not forbidden between Europeans and slaves or other non-Europeans, it was quite rare and entailed a drop in social status for the European. Nevertheless, sexual relationships occurred—sometimes coerced, sometimes by mutual… [more]

Although marriage was not forbidden between Europeans and slaves or other non-Europeans, it was quite rare and entailed a drop in social status for the European. Nevertheless, sexual relationships occurred—sometimes coerced, sometimes by mutual… [more]

Dorothy and Abigail Faulkner: aged 10 and 8 Dorothy Faulkner and Abigail Faulkner, Jr. also lived in Andover, Massachusetts, and their mother was accused of witchcraft as well. While short testimonies, these two children’s stories include the… [more]

Thomas Carrier: aged 9 Thomas and Martha Carrier lived in Andover, MA , a town lying near to Salem and affected by the turmoil of the Salem Witch Trials. One week after Martha's children were examined by the Court, the accused witch was hung for… [more]

Sarah Carrier: aged 7 Thomas and Martha Carrier lived in Andover, MA, a town near Salem caught up in the turmoil of the Salem Witch Trials. Martha Carrier was accused of witchcraft and hung (one week after her children were examined by the Court)… [more]

The legal practice described in the source relates the opinion of jurists on the use of children's statements in the courts. According to the source, children may be called upon to testify in cases of personal injury inflicted on one child by… [more]

This module traces the shifting ways that age of consent laws have been defined, debated and deployed worldwide and from the Middle Ages to the present, and explores how such laws figure in debates over the nature of childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, in campaigns against prostitution and child marriage, and teenage pregnancy, as well as struggles to achieve gender and sexual equality.

This Qin-dynasty legal text (c. 217 BCE), written on bamboo strips, was excavated in China in 1975. According to Qin law, men guilty of killing children born to them were punished by becoming wall builders; the equivalent punishment for women was… [more]