Page 188 - Conflitti Militari e Popolazioni Civili - Tomo I

188 XXXIV Congresso della CommIssIone InternazIonale dI storIa mIlItare • CIHm

Furthermore, the male absences or death abroad were keenly felt by the women who stayed
behind. Indeed, several women often had husbands, fathers, brothers or even male children
from the same family away at the same time, at war, in commerce or overseas voyages.
The absence of males also created a growing demand for women to play a key role in
social and economic life, giving women (single or married) and widows a better chance of
achieving self-sufficiency .
50
Last, but not least, we have to remark that the male absences, the risks heightened by
war, privateers and piracy and, above all, the uncertainty, the anxiety of watching people
leave, without knowing what their fate would be. Hence the efforts to discover the fate of
those individuals, as exemplified by the many powers of attorney issued by wives, to find out
whether their husbands were alive or dead; hence the deaths proclaimed in places believed
to be the birthplace of the deceased; and finally, hence the deaths declared by the civil and
religious authorities, in the absence of any proof of death, in order to divide up the property
left by inheritance or to remarry, for example .
51
The same uncertainty and lack of news can be projected in the collective mentalities, in
the resort to magical arts, especially divination. In the realm of religious practices we also
find evidence of such phenomena, with the promotion of specific devotional rituals, in par-
ticular those associated with the worship of the Virgin Mary, with which women sought to
protect the men (husbands, brothers, fathers and sons) who faced the great dangers presented
by venturing across the seas and by the armed conflicts, or the inevitable result of pillaging
and piracy.
To conclude: evidence of the generalised and deep impact, on maritime communities, of
the experience of contexts of war, both formal and informal, abounds, confirming the extent
of the impact of warfare on civilians, particularly in the context of the overseas expansion.
The absence of an organised army and navy was exacerbated by the lack of any clear dis-
tinction between the civilians and militaries. The very defence and protection of people and
goods, maritime routes and overseas empire itself relied on organised networks of individu-
als, who took part on it by their own volition, or against their will, coerced by a State that
lacked the necessary protection and surveillance structures and a military system to support
such challenges and logistic needs imposed by the constitution of an overseas empire, in
competition with other, more powerful, European states…

50 For further developments see Polónia, Amélia - Women’s contribution to family, economy and social range in
th
maritime societies. Portugal. 16 . Century . “Portuguese Studies Review”, Vol. 13, No. 1, 2006 , “Women in
the Lusophone World in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period”, Editors: Darlene Abreu-Ferreira
(Guest Editor)(University of Winnipeg) and ivana elbl (Trent University), pp. 269-285.
51 Cf. Polónia, Amélia – Expansão e descobrimentos numa perspectiva local…, Vol. 2, pp. 451-480.