Abstract
Relying on the assumption that privatisation of family life intensified in the19th century and that women were the pioneers in this process, we formulate nine hypotheses concerning indicators on family and marriage. The hypotheses are tested using data for three municipalities in Flanders (roughly the northern part of Belgium) covering the period 1800–1913, taken from about 17,000marriage certificates. Special emphasis is on gender and social status distinctions. Most of the hypotheses, particularly those relating to first marriage, are confirmed. The various developments point to an underlying process which we refer to here as the privatisation of marriage, which can be explained by the changed social position and gender identity of women. The hypothesis put forward is that19th-century economic and political marginalisation encouraged women to develop their dyadic power in primary relationships. Marrying young and creating an identity around expressive family and motherhood tasks was, for many women, a reaction to and a remedy for their public exclusion and economic subordination.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alter, G., 1991. 'New perspectives on European marriage in the nineteenth century'. Journal of Family History 16(1): 1-5.
Anderson, M., 1980. Approaches to the History of the Western Family, 1500-1914. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ariè s, P., 1962. Centuries of Childhood: A Social History of Family Life (translated by R. Baldick). New York: Knopf.
Ariè s, P., 1981. 'Introduction to Part I', in J. Dupâ quier, E. Hélin, P. Laslett, M. Livi-Bacci and S. Sogner (eds.), Marriage and Remarriage in Populations of the Past, pp. 27-40. London: Academic Press.
Art, J., 1992. 'De pastorale methodes van de Vlaamse parochiegeestelijkheid: verandering of continuï teit' (The pastoral methods of Flemish parochial clergy: change or continuity), in E. Lamberts (ed.), Een kantelend tijdperk. De wending van de kerk naar het volk in Noord-West-Europa (1890-1910), pp. 227-243. Leuven; Universitaire Pers.
Beex, B., 1982. 'Hertrouw in Nederland in de jaren zestig en zeventig: een sociaal-demografisch perspectief' (Remarriage in the Netherlands in the sixties and seventies: a socio-demographic perspective). Bevolking en Gezin 2: 185-204.
Bellettini, A., 1981. 'Les remariages dans la ville et dans la campagne de Bologne au dix-neuviè me siè cle' (Remarriage in towns and in the Boulogne countryside in the nineteenth century), in J. Dupâ quier, E. Hélin, P. Laslett, M. Livi-Bacci and S. Sogner (eds.), Marriage and Remarriage in Populations of the Past, pp. 259-272. London: Academic Press.
Bideau, A., 1980. 'A demographic and social analysis of widowhood and remarriage: the example of the castellany of Thoissey-en-Dombes, 1670-1840'. Journal of Family History 5(1): 28-43.
Birdsall, N., 1983. 'Fertility and economic change in eighteenth and nineteenth century Europe: A comment'. Population and Development Review 9: 111-123.
Bovin, K., Goedseels V. and Van Mellaert, P., 1985. Boerderijen in Bierbeek (Farms in Bierbeek). Leuven: Centrum Agrarische Bouwkunde.
Brepoels, J. et al., 1985. Stadsboek Leuven. Leuven: Kritak.
Burguiè re, A., 1981. 'Réticences théoriques et intégration pratique du remariage dans la France d'Ancien Régime' (Theoretical reticence and practical integration of remarriage in France during the Ancien Régime), in J. Dupâ quier, E. Hélin, P. Laslett, M. Livi-Bacci and S. Sogner (eds.), Marriage and Remarriage in Populations of the Past, pp. 41-48. London: Academic Press.
Burnett, J., 1991. 'Housing and the decline of mortality', in R. Schofield, D. Reher and A. Bideau (eds.), The Decline of Mortality in Europe, pp. 158-176. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Caine, B. and G. Sluga, 2000. Gendering European History. London: Leicester University Press.
Cabourdin, G., 1978. 'Le remariage' (Remarriage). Annales de Démographie Historique: 307-336.
Cabourdin, G., 1981. 'Le remariage en France sous l'Ancien Régime (seiziè me-dix-huitiè me siè cles)' (Remarriage in France during the Ancien Régime (sixteenth-eighteenth centuries)), in J. Dupâ quier, E. Hélin, P. Laslett, M. Livi-Bacci and S. Sogner (eds.), Marriage and Remarriage in Populations of the Past, pp. 273-285. London: Academic Press.
Camerlinckx, H., 1960. Bijdrage tot een studie van de demografische en sociaal-economische structuur van Leuven tijdens het Hollands Bewind (Contribution to a Study of the Demographic and Socio-economic Structure of Leuven during the Dutch Regime). Leuven: K.U. Leuven, Department of History lecture.
Charbonneau, H., 1970. Tourouve-au-Perche aux XVII iè me et XVIII iè me siè cles (Tourouve-au-Perche in the 17th and 18th Centuries). Paris: P.U.F.
Cloet, M. and Storme, H., 1991. 'Relatie en huwelijk in de Nieuwe Tijd' (Relationship and marriage in the New Age), in R. Burggraeve et al. (eds.), Levenssrituelen. Het huwelijk. Leuven: Universitaire Pers.
Coale, A. J. and Watkins, S. C., 1986. The Decline of Fertility in Europe. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Courteaux, F. and Van Lul, A., 1956. 'Aalst in de 19de eeuw' (Aalst in the 19th century). Gazet van Aalst en omstreken 13(13): 170-207.
Cunningham, H., 1997. Het kind in het westen. Vijf eeuwen geschiedenis (The Child in theWest. Five Centuries of History). Amsterdam: Van Gennep.
Damsma, D., 1993. 'De dubbele revolutie en het gezin' (The double revolution and the family), in T. Zwaan (ed.), Familie, huwelijk en gezin in West-Europa, pp. 165-192. Amsterdam: Boom/Open University.
Davidoff, L, and Hall, C., 1987. Family Fortunes: Men and Women of the English Middle Class 1780-1850. London: Hutchinson.
De Hauwere, H. (undated). Vergelijking tussen twee Vlaamse steden die een zeer verschillende demografische ontwikkeling kenden in de hedendaagse tijden (1784-1940): Aalst en Dendermonde (Comparison between two Flemish Cities and Their very Different Demographic Development in Modern Times (1784-1940): Aalst and Dendermonde). Leuven: K.U. Leuven, Department of History lecture.
Demos, J., 1970. A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in Plymouth Colony. New York: Oxford University Press.
Dentith, S., 1998. Society and Cultural Forms in Nineteenth-Century England. London: Macmillan Press.
Dixon, R.B., 1978. 'Late marriage and non-marriage as demographic responses: Are they similar?' Population Studies 32(3): 449-466.
Duby, G. and Perrot, M., 1993. Geschiedenis van de vrouw. Deel 3. De negentiende eeuw (History of the Woman. Part 3. The Nineteenth Century) (eds. G. Fraisse and M. Perrot). Amsterdam: Agon.
Dyrvik, S., 1981. 'Gagne-pain ou sentiments? Trait du remariage en Norvè ge au dix-neuviè me siè cle' (Source of Income or Feelings. Views of Remarriage in Norway in the Nineteenth Century), in J. Dupâ quier, E. Hélin, P. Laslett, M. Livi-Bacci and S. Sogner (eds.), Marriage and Remarriage in Populations of the Past, pp. 297-306. London: Academic Press.
Gillis, J., 1985. For Better, for Worse: British Marriages, 1600 to the Present. New York: Oxford University Press.
Gillis, J., 1996. 'Making the family: The invention of family times(s) and the reinvention of family history'. Journal of Family History 21(1): 4-21.
Grigg, S., 1977. 'Toward a theory of remarriage: A case study of Newburyport at the beginning of the nineteenth century'. Journal of Interdisciplinary History 8(2): 183-220.
Hajnal, J., 1965. 'European marriage patterns in perspective', in D.V. Glass and D.E. Eversley (eds.), Population in History, pp. 101-143. London: Edward Arnold.
Hareven, T.K., 1978. The Family and the Life Course in Historical Perspective. New York: Academic Press.
Hofstee, E.W., 1981. Korte demografische geschiedenis van Nederland van 1800 tot heden (Brief Demographic History of the Netherlands from 1800 to the Present). Haarlem: Fibula-Van Dishoeck.
Ihinger-Tallman, M. and Pasley, K., 1987. Remarriage. California Newbury Park: Sage.
Jonckheere, W.G., 1960. Bevolking en mortaliteit. Aspecten van de demografische evolutie te Leuven onder het Frans Bewind (1794-1814) (Population and Mortality. Aspects of the Demographic Evolution in Leuven under the French Regime (1794-1814)). Leuven: K.U. Leuven, Department of History lecture.
Karush, G. E., 1977. 'Industrialisation et changements de la population active en Belgique de 1846 à 1910' (Industrialisation and Changes in the Workforce in Belgium from 1846 to 1910). Population et Famille 40(1): 37-76.
Knodel, J. and Lynch, K., 1985. 'The decline of remarriage: Evidence from German village populations in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries'. Journal of Family History 10(1): 34-59.
Kok, J., 1994. 'Collectieve strategie en individuele levensloop' (Collective strategy and individual lifecycle), in M. Baud and T. Engelen (eds.), Samen wonen, samen werken? Vijf essays over de geschiedenis van arbeid en gezin, pp. 97-121. Hilversum: Verloren.
Lebrun, P., Bruwier, M., Dhondt, J. and Hansette, G. (eds.), 1979. Histoire quantitative et développement de la Belgique au XIX iè me siè cle. Essai sur la révolution industrielle en Belgique. Bruxelles: Academie Royale de Belgique.
Lehning, J. R., 1983. 'Nuptiality and rural industry: Families and labor in the French countryside'. Journal of Family History 8(4): 333-345.
Lehning, J. R., 1988. 'The timing and prevalence of women's marriage in the French department of the Loire, 1851-1891'. Journal of Family History 13(3): 307-327.
Lesthaeghe, R., 1989. Motivation and Legitimation: Living Conditions, Social Control and the Reproductive Regimes in Belgium and France from the 16 th Through the 19 th Century. Brussel: VUB-Centrum voor Sociologie.
Lundh, C., 2002. 'Remarriages in Sweden in the 18th and 19th centuries'. The History of the Family 7(3): 423-449.
Magits, M., 1974. Demografische en sociale structuren te Leuven (1846-1860). Bijdrage tot de stadsgeschiedenis in de 19 de eeuw (Demographic and Social Structures in Leuven (1846-1860). Contribution to the City's History in the 19th Century). Brussels: VUB, Centre for social structures and the economy.
Matthijs, K., 2001. De mateloze negentiende eeuw. Bevolking, huwelijk, gezin en sociale verandering (The Extravagant Nineteenth Century. Population, Marriage, Family and Social Change). Leuven: Universitaire Pers.
Matthijs, K., 2002. 'Mimetic appetite for marriage in nineteenth-century Flanders: Gender disadvantage as an incentive for social change'. Journal of Family History 27(2): 101-127.
Matthijs, K., 2003. 'Frequency, timing and intensity of remarriage in 19th century Flanders'. The History of the Family. An International Journal 8(1): 135-162.
Matthijs, K., Van Bavel, J. and Van de Velde, I., 1997. Leuven in de negentiende eeuw. De bevolking: een spiegel van het dagelijkse leven (Leuven in the Nineteenth Century. The Population: A Reflection of Everyday Life). Leuven: Acco.
Matthijs, K. and Van de Putte, B., 2001. 'Huwen tijdens de advent en de vasten in de 19de eeuw in Vlaanderen'. Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Nieuwste Geschiedenis 31(1-2): 75-112.
Mitterauer, M. and Sieder, R., 1983. The European Family. Patriarchy to Partnership from the Middle Ages to the Present. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Parsons, T., 1954. Essays in Sociological Theory. New York: The Free Press.
Peeters, M. G., 1992. Leven in het oude Leuven (Living in Old Leuven). Ghent: Stichting Mens en Kultuur.
Perrot, M. (ed.), 1990. A History of Private Life. Volume 4. From the Fires of Revolution to the Great War (translated by A. Goldhammer). Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Poddevijn, D., Van Gyseghem, G. and Baert, K., 1991. Van paternalisme naar emancipatie. Een bijdrage tot de sociaal-economische geschiedenis van het arrondissement Aalst uitgegeven naar aanleiding van 150 jaar Kamer van Koophandel en Nijverheid van Aalst en Gewest (1841-1991) (From Paternalism to Emancipation. A Contribution to the Socio-economic History of the District of Aalst, Published to Mark 150 Years of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the Aalst Region (1841-1991)). Aalst: Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Pott-Buter, H. A., 1993. Facts and Fairy Tales about Female Labor, Family and Fertility. A Sevencountry Comparison, 1850-1990. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
Praet, P., 1986. Bijdrage tot de studie over de armoede in Aalst tijdens de 19 de eeuw (Contribution to the Study of Poverty in Aalst during the 19th Century). Leuven: K.U. Leuven, Department of History.
Roberts, R., 1973. The Classic Slum: Salford Life in the First Quarter of the Century. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
Schofield, R., 1983. 'The impact of scarcity and plenty on population change in England'. Journal of Interdisciplinary History 14: 265-291.
Schofield, R. and Reher, D., 1991. 'The decline of mortality in Europe', in R. Schofield, D. Reher and A. Bideau (eds.), The Decline of Mortality in Europe, pp. 1-17. Oxford: Clarendon.
Scholliers, P., 1981. 'Arbeidersconsumptie in transitie (Workers' consumption in transition) 1890-1930', in J. Hannes (ed.), Consumptiepatronen en prijsindexen, pp. 30-36. Brussels: VUB Press.
Scholliers, P., 1985. De Gentse metaalarbeiders in de 19 de eeuw (Metalworkers in Ghent in the 19th Century). Brussels: VUB, Centre for contemporary social history.
Scholliers, P., 1992. 'Historical food study in Belgium: Development, problems and results in the 19th and 20th centuries', in H. J. Teuteberg (ed.), European Food History. A Study Review, pp. 71-89. Leicester: Leicester University Press.
Scholliers, P., 1996. Wages, Manufacturers and Workers in the 19 th Century Factory: the Voortman Cotton Mill in Ghent. Oxford: Berg.
Seccombe, W., 1992. A Millennium of Family Change. Feudalism to Capitalism in Northwestern Europe. London: Verso.
Segalen, M., 1981. 'Mentalité populaire et remariage en Europe occidentale' (Popular mentality and remarriage inWestern Europe), in J. Dupâ quier, E. Hélin, P. Laslett, M. Livi-Bacci and S. Sogner (eds.), Marriage and Remarriage in Populations of the Past, pp. 67-80. London: Academic Press.
Shorter, E., 1977. The Making of the Modern Family. New York: Basic Books.
Stadsbestuur Leuven, 1975. Leuven, een stad die groeit (Leuven, a Growing City). Leuven: Stadsbestuur.
Stone, L., 1977. The Family, Sex and Marriage in England, 1500-1800. London: Weidenfeld.
Tilly, L. and Scott, J. W., 1978. Women, Work, and Family. New York: Routledge.
Tilly, L., Scott, J. W. and Cohen, M., 1976. Women's work and European fertility patterns. Journal of Interdisciplinary History 6(3): 447-476.
Torfs, J. A., 1899. Geschiedenis van Leuven. Van den vroegsten tijd tot op heden (History of Leuven. From the Earliest Times to the Present). Leuven: Drukkerij Emiel Charpentier.
Vallin, J., 1991. 'Mortality in Europe from 1720 to 1914: Long-term trends and changes in patterns by age and sex', in R. Schofield, D. Reher and A. Bideau (eds.), The Decline of Mortality in Europe, pp. 38-67. Oxford: Clarendon.
Van Bavel, J., 1998. Economic crisis, illegitimacy and first marriage before the fertility transition: A cohort case study in Leuven, Belgium, 1846-1866. Paper presented at the 1998 Social Science and History Conference. Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Van Croonenborch, J., 1988. De Leuvense Vaart (The Vaart in Leuven) 1830-1913. Leuven: K.U. Leuven, Department of History lecture.
Van Ermen, E. (ed.), 1997. Van Petermannen en koeienschieters. Kroniek van Leuven. Leuven: Uitgeverij P.
Van de Putte, B. and Matthijs, K., 2002. Romantic love and marriage. A study of age homogamy in 19th century Leuven. Belgisch Tijdschrijft voor Nieuwste Geschiedenis xxxi, 2001, 3-4: 579-619.
Vandenbroeke, C., 1976. 'Karakteristieken van het huwelijks-en voortplantingspatroon. Vlaanderen en Brabant, 17de-19de eeuw' (Characteristics of the Marriage and Reproduction Pattern. Flanders and Brabant, 17th-19th Centuries). Tijdschrift voor Sociale Geschiedenis 2(2): 107-145.
Van Melkebeke, D., 1977. Seizoensarbeid in het arrondissement Aalst (Seasonal labour in the District of Aalst) (1880-1914). Leuven: K.U. Leuven, Department of History.
Van Poppel, F., 1992. Trouwen in Nederland. Een historisch-demografische studie van de 19 de -en vroeg-20 ste eeuw (Marriage in the Netherlands. A Historical Demographic Study of the 19th and Early 20th Centuries). The Hague: Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute.
Van Poppel, F., 1995. 'Widows, widowers and remarriage in nineteenth-century Netherlands'. Population Studies 49: 421-441.
Van Rossem, B., 1965. Bijdrage tot de studie van het analfabetisme en de geschiedenis van het lager onderwijs te Aalst (Contribution to the study of illiteracy and the history of primary education in Aalst) (1790-1860). Leuven: K.U. Leuven, Department of History.
Vliebergh, E. and Ulens, R., 1914. Het Hageland. Zijne plattelandsche bevolking in de xix de eeuw (The Hageland. Its Rural Population in the 19th Century). Brussels: Hayez.
Watkins, S. C., 1984. 'Spinsters'. Journal of Family History 9(4): 310-325.
Willems, C., 1984. De Dender en zijn Vlaamse steden. Geraardsbergen, Ninove, Aalst en Dendermonde (The Dender and its Flemish towns. Geraardsbergen, Ninove, Aalst and Dendermonde). Brussels: Artis-Historia.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Matthijs, K. Demographic and Sociological Indicators of Privatisation of Marriage in the 19th Century in Flanders. European Journal of Population 19, 375–412 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026361006200
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026361006200