Economic abuse in the context of men’s violence against women have recently been “discovered” as a specific form of abuse. Yet, from historical records of divorce and church records there are evidence that it has been defined as such also in the past. In 1810, new grounds for divorce were legislated in Swedish law, for example “drunkenness, wasteful behavior and violent mind”. How this paragraph was used in the 19th century, when abused wives asked for support in the local community is the context of this paper – focusing on economic abuse, economic consequences of abuse, how it was interpreted and handled–both by women subjected to it, and church authorities trying to solve the “marital disputes”. The paper shows how women’s narratives of economic abuse (wasteful behaviours) in church-records is intertwined with other forms of men’s violence and abusive behaviors. Still, economic abuse is most often foregrounded as the largest problem, and more difficult for women to handle than men’s physical violence – also for their children. Unsurprisingly women used different strategies to resist husbands’ economic abuse, despite being under their guardian. Drawing on research on the history of family violence and research on economic abuse in the context of VAW, the paper argue that it’s fruitful to analyze women’s narratives on men’s violence in 19th century marriages with theoretical concepts such as economic control, economic exploitation and employment sabotage, in order to discuss gender, power and abuse in terms of continuity and change. The paper has the ambition to contribute to the history of men’s violence against women in marriage, but also to question present-day perceptions that economic abuse is a new phenomenon and a problem unique for our own time.