Royalist Women in the MarketplaceWork, Gender and Popular Counter-Revolution in Southern Europe (1814–1830)

Resumen

This chapter discusses the engagement of working women in royalist politics during the Restoration period (1814–1830) through two case studies: Marseille and Madrid. It focuses on the role played by market women (such as food hawkers, fishwives and street sellers) who were depicted at the time as particularly radical in their counter-revolutionary views. These women took an active role in royalist mobilisation. They organised political parades, rose funds, confronted the police, chased Bonapartists and liberals, wore and destroyed political symbols and spread rumours. Far from being manipulated by the elites, they engaged in politics to address their everyday concerns, reinforce their role in the urban community and defend what they perceived as their own interests. Through this particular case, this chapter argues that popular royalism was not a remnant from the past, but an alternative path of politicisation during the Age of Revolution.