In this article, I compare women's work opportunities in Bilbao, in northern Castile, and Antwerp, in the Low Countries, from 1400 to 1560. I argue that the different organisation of work in the two towns had a great influence on women's economic opportunities. Whereas women in Antwerp often worked alongside other members of their household because of the town's dominant craft guilds, Bilbao's informal trades were open to women on their own, independent of their husband or another male relative. As a result, women in Bilbao are more visible in the sources and were able to exert more influence on the town council.

This article examines women's agency in the butcher's guild in Leuven during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. An analysis of urban ordinances demonstrates that the corporation allowed women of various marital status to work in the trade. Mar ried women acted frequently as active substitutes of their husbands or as part of a family production unit. Unmarried women, most often widows, were allowed to perform certain tasks independently. This contrasts with findings in earlier studies about gendering in butchers' guilds in other towns. I argue that the changing hered itary character of the corporation influenced women's agency in the trade. * Dit artikel is gebaseerd op mijn onuitgegeven masterproef (ku Leuven 2016). Mijn dank gaat uit naar mijn promotor prof. dr. Jelle Haemers, de redactie van Tijdschrift voor Sociale en Economische Geschiede nis-in het bijzonder Jessica Dijkman-en de anonieme referenten die hielpen bij de verwezenlijking van deze tekst. 1 Stadsarchief Leuven (verder sal), Oud Archief (verder oa), inv. nr. 1527, Ordonnances et règlements de la ville de Louvain (verder 1527), 1593. Deze ordonnantie is wellicht een kopie van een ambachtsstatuut dat de vleeshouwers in 1518 werd toegekend. De stadsraad beschreef die 'ambachtsrolle' eerder al in een ordonnantie uit 1566. sal, oa, inv. nr. 4748, Actes portant défense aux veuves des bouchers d'abattre du bétail ou de vendre de la viande dans les Halles aux viandes (verder 4748), 1566.

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