Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Querelle des sexes
(1,412 words)

1. Concept

The word “quarrel” derives from the Latin querel(l)a (lamentation, [com]plaint) and the Old French querelle (disagreement, [legal] dispute, controversy; from 14th century “point of contention,” “concern [in a legal case]”). The querelle des sexes has multiple meanings: the “quarrel over gender,” the “quarrel of the sexes,” and the “issue of the genders” (Gender roles). The first attestation for querelle des dames in a historical source is found in Martin Le Franc’s Le champion…

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Zimmermann, Margarete, “Querelle des sexes”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 30 November 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_026109>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20210107



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