Authors: Tom Hamilton, Department of History, Durham University - Academia.edu

Description: »After Mathurin Delacanche and his soldiers marched on Chaumot in the winter of 1590, they used sexual violence as a weapon of terror and pillaged the resources of the village. This chapter focuses on the villagers' experiences of the occupation, and highlights their resilience as they lived through the destruction wrought by the local, small-scale warfare that typified early modern conflicts. It demonstrates how some historians' claims that premodern societies formally tolerated sexual violence need to be revised in the light of the evidence presented here, which reveals how magistrates, plaintiffs, and witnesses decried rape but often found it difficult to prosecute through criminal justice.« (Source: Durham Research Online)

Wikipedia: History of Europe: History of France / France in the early modern period | Sex and the law: Rape / Rape in France, Wartime sexual violence | War: French Wars of Religion