Matrimonial behaviours of the Transylvanian Romanian rural elite in the second half of the 19th century (original) (raw)

2012, Transylvanian Review

The article analyzes the matrimonial strategies of the Transylvanian Romanian rural elite in the second half of the 19th century. Based on unique historical sources, the analysis reveals various matrimonial behaviours and suggests explanatory models. The Transylvanian family of the modern epoch was based on logics and basic principles that were different from the current ones and operated on the following variables: indissoluble attachment to their land, excessive fragmentation of the property, the dowry, the transfer of assets from ascendants to descendants, similarity of social statuses, pattern of precocious marriages, a distribution of marriages according to the seasons, with more marriages concluded in winter, a high number of remarriage cases due to the death of one spouse, not to divorce. The variables used refer to a set of matters focused on the socioeconomic statute, on age, religion, gender, civil status, occupation, locality of origin and locality of residence of the spouses, on the value and composition of the dowry received upon marriage.