Les « femmes de mauvaise vie » dans la communauté (Montpellier, 1713-1742)

Abstract

Prostitutes and other women of ill repute, by their activities or their behaviour, departed from certain norms of Ancien Régime society. How, then, does one explain their integration into the community and the relationship they maintained with their contemporaries? This study attempts to sketch a picture of the social place of women of ill repute in Montpellier between 1713 and 1742. The study looks at the identity of these women, the nature of their social networks, and the scandal that they sometimes caused. Despite the illegality of their activities, women of ill repute were well integrated into the community, and their appearances before the judicial authorities were more often the result of scandal caused by their activities rather than the nature of their behaviour itself.