In 19th-century France, young women preparing for their wedding night were frequently compared to those sacrificed in ancient Greek tragedies. Hundreds of testimonies gathered during matrimonial trials and uncovered in the religious legal archives kept at the Vatican, plunge us into this conjugal intimacy. Breaking the secrets of the nuptial chamber, they also show that young wives could convince ecclesiastical justice to accept the dissolution of the marriage bond.
With Aicha Limbada, historian, member of the Ecole française de Rome, author of La nuit de noces. Une histoire de l'intimité conjugale, La découverte, 2023
And Valérie Hannin, editorial director, L'Histoire.