The European Marriage Pattern in the Cities: Variations on a Theme by Hajnal

Abstract

This study investigates the “European Marriage Pattern” in the cities of northwestern Europe in the early modern and modern periods. It shows the importance of heterogeneity in ways that the two features of the pattern—high age at marriage and high proportions single—were integrated in different types of urban economic settings and across various social groups. The study argues that while demographic consequences of the “European Marriage Pattern” were of fundamental importance, the endurance of the pattern is also explained by its vitality as part of a widespread system of cultural values.