In 18th century Spain, women married on average at the age of 23 and men at the age of 25, as corroborated by the Floridablanca Census of 1787. These ages are lower than in Europe, where it was common for women to marry between 25 and 28 and men between 27 and 30. Even so, however, there was a tendency for first marriages to be later than in previous centuries. This trend, however, was not uniform, but seems to have followed a south/north-northwest upward direction, which confirms the existence of an unequal regional reality that we cannot fail to point out. According to Pérez Moreda (1988), in 1787 the first marriages of women in Extremadura were at 21.9 years of age, those in Andalusia at 22.3; those in Valencia at 22.7; those in Castilla La Nueva at 23.4; Castilla la Vieja, 23.7; León, 24.2; Galicia 25.3 and the Basque Country 26.1. Uneven behaviour for which it is not easy to find unicausal explanations. Rather, it is necessary to take into account a variety of factors that to a greater or lesser extent influence marital behaviour: living conditions, work possibilities, economic opportunities, the existence of complementary activities and levels of pluriactivity, the weight of migratory movements, the form of access to resources -and especially to the exploitation of land-, inheritance law, custom, inheritance practices, cultural aspects linked to the medieval past, the logic of family systems, social differences, marital strategies and other mechanisms of social reproduction.
Collection: Graphics
Project: 3. Rural world and urban world in the formation of the European identity., 4. Family, daily life and social inequality in Europe.
Chronology: XVIII
Scope: Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, University
Resource type: Graph
Format: Bar chart
Source: García González, Francisco: “Las estructuras familiares y su relación con los recursos humanos y económicos”, en CHACÓN JIMÉNEZ, F. y BESTAD, J. (dirs.), Familias. Historia de la sociedad española (del final de la Edad Media a nuestros días), Madrid, Cátedra, 2011, p. 173
Language: Spanish
Date: 2011
Owner: Francisco García González (Modernalia)
Copyright: © Francisco García González © Editorial Cátedra
Abstract: Balance of the age of entry into marriage in the different regions of Spain showing a clear contrast between the north and the south
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Tags
1787CastillaCenso de FloridablancaCiclo familiarCiclo vitalCurso de vidaDemografía HistóricaEdadEspañaFamiliaGéneroMatrimonioMujeresNupcialidadRegiones españolasSiglo XVIII
