Running the Household: Gender Perspectives From the Past

While gender history provided evidence of businesswomen running financial or commercial activities, little is known about the day-to-day management of households. They were complex organisations that combined production and consumption processes, managed properties and assets, and handled relationships that went beyond blood and marriage. To delve more deeply into the private world of these business-like organisations, this paper applies a historical perspective and focuses on the case of Silvia Rabatta, the widow of a noble family living in northeastern Italy in the eighteenth century. Drawing on primary archival sources, the paper outlines how relationships within this household were managed. The findings show that Silvia considered her family as an economic unit. Household relationships were managed like business relationships, were instrumental in nature, and were based on a contractual arrangement. However, Silvia’s emotional attachment to her subordinates was also evident. By providing insights from the past, this paper offers a female perspective of the management of a household, which can be considered an early form of family business.