• HazardousBanjo@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    Marriage, for much of the medieval European society, was something done for diplomatic/property and wealth reasons.

    Your average peasant covered in animal and human shit and dying of plague isn’t someone who’s gonna have anybneed to conduct diplomacy, nor are they gonna have much property and wealth.

  • Spacehooks@reddthat.com
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    5 days ago

    I remember teaching telling me the Shakespearen audience went wtf when they heard Juliette mom married at 14. Never fact checked it though.

  • squaresinger@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    Once again a reminder that the “experienced past”, so the way we think the past worked, only covers a very short timeframe.

  • EfreetSK@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    I remember I was surprised about that when doing my family tree. I didn’t get to middle ages but even in 1700 - 1800, the common age of my ancestors when they got married was 22 - 23 for women and 25 - 26 for men. I expected much younger ages, like 18 - 19.

    Note that all my ancestors were farmers or workers from rural Slavic part of the world so don’t imagine it like 1800 London or something