3-043-113 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

A Husband Beating his Wife with a Stick; Roman de la Rose, about 1405. Additional Info: One sees some marriages in which the man thinks it the part of wisdom to chastise and beat his wife, to make her live in fear. This translation of the text adjoining the image gives some glimpse into the commonplace practice of wife-beating in the Middle Ages. Throughout the Middle Ages, wife-beating was not illegal as long as the husband asserted he was punishing his wife in a "reasonable" manner for disobedience or negligence of duty. The author of the Romance of the Rose, however, goes on to warn the reader that under these conditions "true love cannot long endure." The merciless way the man beats his wife in the image combined with the text's moralizing message were clearly intended to argue against a widespread custom.