Noblewomen, Business, and Financial Management in Nineteenth-Century France

Macknight examines noblewomen’s business interests and management of finance during the long nineteenth century. The chapter presents archival case studies to illustrate the entrepreneurial skills exercised by these female landowners who were diversifying their property portfolios by investing in shares as well as generating revenue from the exploitation of natural resources. Using private correspondence between noblewomen, estate stewards, notaries, and tax officials, Macknight shows noblewomen actively responding to evolutions in tax law and minimizing risk exposure. The chapter illustrates circumstances in which noblewomen were either sheltered from or suffered the fiscal implications of economic volatility in France. In becoming more business oriented, noblewomen defended their personal rights to control of economic capital and challenged gender-based legal limitations in their dealings with state authorities.