From Microhistory to Patterns of Urban Mobility: The Rhythm of Gendered Mobility in Eighteenth-Century Amsterdam

This chapter contributes to the understanding of early modern daily life through a study of urban mobility in eighteenth-century Amsterdam. By using residence locations and locations of activities recorded in notarial witness attestations, a broad pattern of gendered everyday mobility is reconstructed. In combination with the recorded time of the observed activities, the gendered differences in daily routine are assessed. The results are analysed in the context of the material infrastructure of the city, in the form of city gates and in the context of a more loosely defined infrastructure, the urban neighbourhood. The results demonstrate that early modern daily mobility can be studied empirically through the quantitative analysis of fragmentary information from witness attestations.