1802, March 27. 2001. The Encyclopedia of World History

The Encyclopedia of World History. 2001.


1802, March 27

Treaty of Amiens between Britain and France: Britain surrendered all conquests to France except Trinidad, which went to Spain, and Ceylon; Ceylon was ceded by the Batavian Republic (the French puppet state in the Low Countries). France recognized the Republic of the Seven Ionian Islands, and Malta was restored to the Knights of Malta. This treaty resulted briefly in the complete pacification of Europe, though war with Britain was resumed in 1803.	1

1804, March 21

The Civil Code was proclaimed. It strengthened the patriarchal family. Women had no political rights and could not legally be witnesses of births, marriages, or deaths. Divorce, with alimony, was possible only if the wife was under 45 years of age and the marriage had existed for less than 20 years. Causes for divorce did not include adultery on the part of the husband unless he brought his concubine into the home. The code offered no security for tenants—contracts always favored the property owners. The code also allowed for partitioning of estates, thus contravening the tradition of impartible inheritance and, historians have argued, contributing to France's increasingly low birthrates as families sought to pass their land on intact.	2


The Encyclopedia of World History, Sixth edition. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. Copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Maps by Mary Reilly, copyright © 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.