Economic, social, political, and demographic processes changed Western European cities strongly during the nineteenth century. Especially during this time, the northern part of Belgium (Flanders) became highly urbanized. Investigating the long-term development of the marriage pattern in the cities of Antwerp, Aalst, and Ghent gives a detailed picture of the evolution of the urban marriage pattern. In this article, specific emphasis is on gender, social, and migration distinctions. The results confirm that there is a male—female difference and variation among various social and migrant groups in the age at first marriage during the period 1800—1906. Moreover, regional differences are also visible. In the port city of Antwerp, massive immigration caused a unique evolution in the age at first marriage during the last decades of the nineteenth century, which did not appear in the textile cities of Aalst and Ghent during this time.
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7.
J. Hajnal, ‘‘European Marriage Patterns;’’ K. Matthijs, ‘‘Mimetic Appetite for Marriage in Nineteenth-Century Flanders: Gender Disadvantage as an Incentive for Social Change,’’Journal of Family History 27, no. 2(2002): 101-27.
8.
K.A. Lynch, ‘‘The European Marriage Pattern in the Cities. Variations on a Theme by Hajnal,’’Journal of Family History16, no. 1 (1991):79-96.
9.
J. Kok, ‘‘Eigen baas zijn, da’s maar alles’’. Huwelijksmotivatie van Rotterdammers uit de tweede helft van de negentiende eeuw,’’ in Naar Rotterdam. Immigratie en levensloop in Rotterdam vanaf het einde van de negentiende eeuw, ed. P. Van de Laar, L. Lucassen, and K. Mandemakers (Amsterdam: Aksant, 2006), 99-118; F. Van Poppel, Trouwen in Nederland. Een historisch-demografische studie van de 19de en vroeg 20ste eeuw (Den Haag: Nederlands Interdisciplinair Demografisch Instituut, 1992).
10.
J. Kok, ‘‘Eigen baas zijn, da’s maar alles;’’ J. Knodel, ‘‘Urban and Rural Marriage Patterns in Imperial Germany,’’ Journal of Family History 1, no. 2 (1976): 129-68; K. McQuillan, ‘‘Economic Structure, Religion, and Age at Marriage: Some Evidence from Alsace,’’ Journal of Family History 14, no. 4 (1989): 331-46; K. Matthijs, ‘‘Mimetic Appetite for Marriage;’’ M. Oris, ‘‘The Age at Marriage of Migrants during the Industrial Revolution in the Region of Liège,’’ The History of the Family 5, no. 4 (2000): 391-413; F. Van Poppel, ‘‘Trouwen in Nederland.’’
11.
M. Kalmijn, ‘‘Bruid, bruidegom en bruiloft. Sociale en economische achtergronden van het huwelijkspatroon,’’ in De levensloop van de Utrechtse bevolking in de 19de eeuw, ed. K. Mandemakers and O. Boonstra (Assen: Van Gorcum, 1995): 86-102; J. Kok, ‘‘Eigen baas zijn, da’s maar alles;’’ K. Matthijs, ‘‘Mimetic Appetite for Marriage;’’ F. Van Poppel, ‘‘Trouwen in Nederland;’’ F. Van Poppel and J. Nelissen, ‘‘The Proper Age to Marry: Social Norms and Behaviour in Nineteenth-Century Netherlands,’’ The History of the Family 4, no. 1 (1999): 51-75.
12.
K. Matthijs, ‘‘Mimetic Appetite for Marriage.’’
13.
For detailed information on the Antwerp COR*-database, see K. Matthijs and S. Moreels, ‘‘The Antwerp COR*-database. A unique Flemish source for historical-demographic research,’’ The History of the Family 15, no. 1 (2010): 109-15.
14.
S. De Caigny, Het Eilandje: snijpunt van stad en haven. Een studie naar het urbanisatieproces en de sociaal-economische betekenis van de Antwerpse havenwijk, 1830-1914 (Leuven: K.U.Leuven, Departement of Geschiedenis, 2000); K. Jeuninckx, ‘‘De havenbeweging in de Franse en Hollandse periode,’’ in Bouwstoffen voor de geschiedenis van Antwerpen in de XIXde eeuw, Genootschap voor Antwerpse geschiedenis (Antwerpen: Algemene Drukkerijen LLoyd Anversois, 1964): 93-123; J. Kruithof, ‘‘De demografische ontwikkeling in de XIXde eeuw,’’ in Bouwstoffen voor de geschiedenis van Antwerpen in de XIXde eeuw, Genootschap voor Antwerpse geschiedenis (Antwerpen: Algemene Drukkerijen LLoyd Anversois, 1964): 508-43; J. Lampo, Tussen kaai en schip. De Antwerpse havenbuurt voor 1885 (Leuven: Davidsfonds, 2002); C. Lis, Social Change and the Labouring Poor. Antwerp, 1770-1860 (London: Yale University Press, 1986); K. Veraghtert, ‘‘Part III: From Inland Port to International Port 1790-1914,’’ in Antwerp. A Port for All Seasons, ed. F. Suykens, G. Asaert, A. De Vos, A. Thijs, and K. Veraghtert (Antwerpen: Ortelius Series, 1986): 277-452; S. Vrielinck, De territoriale indeling van België. 1795-1963 (Leuven: Universitaire Pers Leuven, 2000): 1668-69; A. Winter, Migrants and Urban Change: Newcomers to Antwerp, 1760-1860 (London: Pickering & Chatto, 2009).
15.
H. De Hauwere, Vergelijking tussen twee Vlaamse steden die een zeer verschillende demografische ontwikkeling kenden in de hedendaagse tijden (1784-1940): Aalst en Dendermonde (Leuven: K.U.Leuven, Departement van Geschiedenis, s.d); P. D’Haeseleer, ‘‘The Linen-Market of Alost (1711-1877),’’ in Studia Historica Economica. Liber Alumnorum Herman Van Der Wee, ed. E. Aerts, B. Henau, P. Janssens, and R. Van Uytven (Leuven: Universitaire Pers Leuven, 1993): 135-43; D. Poddevijn, G. Van Gyseghem, and K. Baert, 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) (Aalst: Kamer van Koophandel en Nijverheid, 1991); D. Van Melkebeke, Seizoensarbeid in het arrondissement Aalst (1880-1914) (Leuven: K.U.Leuven, Departement van Geschiedenis, 1977).
16.
H. Coppejans-Desmedt, ‘‘Ghent in de eerste helft van de negentiende eeuw. Evolutie naar een moderne grootstad,’’ Bijdragen en Mededelingen betreffende de Geschiedenis der Nederlanden 101 (1986): 581-600; P. Scholliers, De Ghentse textielarbeiders in de 19de en de 20ste eeuw (Brussel: VUB Centrum voor Hedendaagse Sociale Geschiedenis, 1977); P. Scholliers, Wages, Manufacturers and Workers in the 19th Century Factory: The Voortman Cotton Mill in Ghent (Oxford: Berg, 1996).
17.
J. Hajnal, ‘‘European Marriage Patterns.’’
18.
T. Engelen and J. Kok, ‘‘Permanent Celibacy and Late Marriage in the Netherlands, 1890-1960,’’Population-E58, no. 1 (2003): 67-96.
19.
K. Matthijs , ‘‘Mimetic Appetite for Marriage;’’C. Vandenbroeke , ‘‘Karakteristieken van het huwelijks- en voortplantingspatroon. Vlaanderen en Brabant, 17de-19de eeuw,’’Tijdschrift Voor Sociale Geschiedenis2, no. 2 (1976): 107-45.
20.
K. Matthijs, ‘‘Mimetic Appetite for Marriage.’’
21.
E. Shorter, The Making of the Modern Family (New York: Basic Books, 1975).
22.
K. Matthijs, ‘‘Mimetic Appetite for Marriage.’’
23.
M. Van Leeuwen , I. Maas, and A. Miles, HISCO: Historical International Standard Classification of Occupations (Leuven: University Press, 2002).
24.
In their view, class refers to ‘‘social power,’’ which is defined as ‘‘the potential to influence one’s destiny- or ‘life chances’-through control of (scarce) resources’’ (B. Van de Putte and A. Miles, ‘‘A Social Classification Scheme for Historical Occupational Data. Partner Selection and Industrialism in Belgium and England, 1800-1918’’, Historical Methods 38, no. 2 [2005]: 63). To obtain social power, two main types of resources must be identified: material and immaterial. Material sources refer to economic power while immaterial sources refer to cultural power. Possession, schooling, and authority carry economic power, and the distinction between manual and nonmanual labor and pure status denote cultural power. The various possible combinations of cultural and economic power lead to a social power scheme with five levels: unskilled workers (SP-level 1), semiskilled workers (SP-level 2), skilled workers (SP-level 3), the middle class (SP-level 4), and the elite (SP-level 5). Moreover, farmers are included in SP-level 4. For more information about Social Power Scheme (SOCPO), see B. Van de Putte, Partnerkeuze in de 19de eeuw. Klasse, romantiek, geografische afkomst en de vorming van sociale groepen op de huwelijksmarkt (Leuven: Universitaire Pers Leuven, 2005) and B. Van de Putte and A. Miles, ‘‘A Social Classification Scheme for Historical Occupational Data.’’ Because the proportion of farmers is small in the investigated cities (between 0.2 and 2.6 percent), no separate group for farmers is constructed during this research.
25.
For more information about the under-registration of female occupations in past times, see B. Hill, ‘‘Women, Work and the Census: A Problem for Historians of Women,’’ History Workshop Journal 35 (1993): 78-94; D. Simonton, The Routledge History of Women in Europe since 1700 (London: Routledge, 2006). The description ‘‘no occupation’’ can refer to a high or a low social stratum. Rich people who did not need to work or did not want to work sometimes preferred to be registered as having ‘‘no occupation.’’ Unemployed women looking for work and older non-job-seeking housewives were also recorded as ‘‘without occupation.’’ Moreover, home workers who did not state their job as an occupation were also registered under this description. See A. Janssens, ‘‘Class, Work and Religion in the Female Life Course-The Case of a Dutch Textile Town: Enschede, 1880-1940,’’ Historical Social Research 23, no. 1-2 (1998): 254-74; K. Matthijs, ‘‘Mimetic Appetite for Marriage:’’ 104-5.
26.
The term ‘‘housewife’’ does not appear at all in the Antwerp marriage certificates. In Aalst and Ghent, only 0.1 and 0.2 percent of brides, respectively, were listed as housewives at the moment of marriage.
27.
For the exact numbers of the average age at first marriage by social status and sex, see Table 1 in S. Moreels and K. Matthijs, ‘‘The Marriage Pattern in an Urban Context. Evidence from three Belgian Cities (Antwerp, Aalst, and Ghent, 1800-1906),’’ Working paper of the Scientific Research Community Historical Demography, no. 12 (2009). http://soc.kuleuven.be/ceso/historischedemografie/resources/pdf/WOGä20workingä20paper12.pdf.
28.
In Aalst and Ghent, a weight coefficient of, respectively, 3 and 12 is applied. Because the COR*-database is based on a letter sample, an annual flexible weight coefficient is applied for the Antwerp data to correct for deviations from the sample.
29.
A. Brändström, J. Sundin, and L.-G. Tedebrand, ‘‘TWO CITIES. Urban Migration and Settlement in Nineteenth-Century Sweden,’’ The History of the Family 5, no. 4 (2000): 415-29; M. Kalmijn, ‘‘Bruid, bruidegom en bruiloft;’’ J. Kok, ‘‘Eigen baas zijn, da’s maar alles;’’ K. Matthijs, ‘‘Mimetic Appetite for Marriage;’’ F. Van Poppel, ‘‘Trouwen in Nederland.’’
30.
A.-L. Head-König, ‘‘The Foreign Labour Force in Urban Switzerland: Immigration and Marriage Patterns of Female Servants in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries,’’ in Migrations and Migrants in Historical Perspective. Permanencies and Innovations, ed. R. Leboutte (Bern: Peter Lang, 2000): 77-96; J. Knodel, ‘‘Town and Country in Nineteenth-Century Germany: A Review of Urban-Rural Differentials in Demographic Behaviour,’’ Social Science History 1, no. 3 (1977): 356-82; E. Vanhaute and C. Matthys, ‘‘A ‘Silent Class’ and a ‘Quiet Revolution.’ Female Domestics and Fertility Decline in Flanders,’’ in Gendering the Fertility Decline in the Western World, ed. A. Janssens (Bern: Peter Lang, 2007): 335-64.
31.
In Aalst, Antwerp, and Ghent, 915 women were servants at the time of marriage during the years 1800-1906. In the Social Power Scheme (SOCPO), these brides belong to SOCPO-level 2.
32.
This method was also applied by F.Van Poppel, ‘‘Trouwen in Nederland’’ and J. Kok, ‘‘Komen en gaan. Migratiepatronen in de provincie Utrecht,’’ in De levensloop van de Utrechtse bevolking in de 19de eeuw, ed. K. Mandemakers and O. Boonstra (Assen: Van Gorcum, 1995): 128-56.
33.
The division between natives and migrants is as follows in this research: if the birth place and domicile were the same, the person is assumed never to have moved between these two events, and is considered a native. If the birth place and domicile are different, the person is identified as a migrant. Moreover, because previous studies have found the place of origin to be decisive for the marriage pattern (see J. Knodel, ‘‘Urban and Rural Marriage Patterns in Imperial Germany;’’ M. Oris, ‘‘The Age at Marriage of Migrants’’), various kinds of migrants are discerned in this research. Those migrating from outside Belgium are considered foreigners; within Belgium, the population size of the place of origin, as recorded in 1900, was used to identify three categories: people originating from places with populations of under 3,000 are considered rural migrants, those from places with populations between 3,000 and 10,000 are considered semirural migrants, and those from places with populations of 10,000 or more are considered urban migrants.
34.
G. Alter, Family and the Female Life Course: The Women of Verviers, Belgium, 1849-1880 (Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988); A. Brändström, J. Sundin, and L.-G. Tedebrand, ‘‘TWO CITIES;’’ M. Garden, ‘‘Mariages parisiens à la fin du XIXè siècle: une micro-analyse quantitative,’’ Annales de Démographie Historique (1998): 111-33; J. Knodel, ‘‘Urban and Rural Marriage Patterns in Imperial Germany;’’ J. Knodel, ‘‘Town and Country in Nineteenth-Century Germany;’’ R. Lee, ‘‘Labour Market Constraints and the Integration of Urban In-migrants: The Case of Bremen, 1815-1914,’’ in Migrations and Migrants in Historical Perspective. Permanencies and Innovations, ed. R. Leboutte (Bern: Peter Lang, 2000): 165-205; K. A. Lynch, ‘‘The European Marriage Pattern in the Cities;’’ H. Nilsson, L.-G. Tedebrand, and M.-C. Vikström, ‘‘Marriage Patterns in Swedish Cities 1840-1990,’’ in Living in the City, ed. E. Sonnino (Roma: Casa Editrice Universita degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, 2004): 203-36; M. Oris, ‘‘The Age at Marriage of Migrants;’’ A. Sharlin, ‘‘Natural Decrease in Early Modern Cities: A Reconstruction,’’ Past & Present 79 (1978): 126-38.
35.
M. Oris, ‘‘The Age at Marriage of Migrants.’’
36.
J. Dupâquier, Pour la Démographie Historique (Paris: P.U.F., 1981); M. Oris, ‘‘The Age at Marriage of Migrants;’’ M. Segalen, ‘‘Mean Age at Marriage and Kinship Networks in a Town under the Influence of the Metropolis: Nanterre 1800-1850,’’ Journal of Family History 16, no. 1 (1991): 65-78.
37.
The long-term perspective demonstrates that the low age at first marriage of foreign bridegrooms in nineteenth century Aalst was caused by a strong decrease in first marriage age during the second half of the nineteenth century.
38.
M. Guttentag and P..Secord, Too Many Women? The Sex Ratio Question (Beverly Hills: Sage Publications,1983). 39. J. Kok, ‘‘Eigen baas zijn, da’s maar alles.’’
39.
S. Dentith, Society and Cultural Forms in Nineteenth-Century England ( London: Macmillan, 1998).
40.
J. Kruithof, ‘‘De demografische ontwikkeling in de XIXde eeuw;’’A. Winter, ‘‘Migrants and Urban Change.’’
41.
Although it would also be interesting to investigate the first marriage age of brides by social status and origin, the limited number of observations in the Antwerp sample made this impossible.
42.
S. De Caigny, ‘‘Het Eilandje;’’K. Veraghtert, ‘‘Part III: From Inland Port to International Port.’’
43.
H. Dierickx, Geschiedenis van Hoboken: evolutie van plattelandsgemeente tot industrieel centrum (1100-1950) (Antwerpen: De Sikkel, 1954); J. Hannes and D. Soetewey-Campers, ‘‘De verstedelijking van de gemeenten Deurne en Borgerhout volgens het kadaster (1810-1914),’’ Tijdschrift van de Belgische Vereniging voor Aardrijkskundige Studies 38 (1969): 129-38; H. Hasquin, R. Van Uytven, and J.-M. Duvosquel, Gemeenten van België: geschiedkundig en administratief-geografisch woordenboek (Brussel: La Renaissance du Livre, 1980). J.-B. Stockmans, Geschiedenis der gemeente Berchem (Brussel: Uitgeverij Kultuur en Beschaving, 1886).
44.
M. Chotkowski, Vijftien ladders en een dambord. Contacten van Italiaanse migranten in Nederland 1860-1940 (Amsterdam: Aksant, 2006); M. Oris, ‘‘The Age at Marriage of Migrants.’’
45.
F. Van Poppel , ‘‘Trouwen in Nederland,’’24-25.
46.
J. Knodel, ‘‘Urban and Rural Marriage Patterns in Imperial Germany,’’143.
47.
L. Henry and J. Houdaille, ‘‘Célibat et âge au mariage aux XVIIIe et XIXe siècles en France. II. Age au premier mariage,’’Population34, no. 2 ( 1979): 415.
48.
M. Oris, ‘‘The Age at Marriage of Migrants.’’
49.
Forty-two percent of all Antwerp marriages were marriages between two natives. In Ghent, 43 percent of all marriages were between two natives.
50.
Detailed analysis of immigrants’ fertility behavior in the port city of Antwerp during this time also reveals a different spacing behavior among the rural and semirural born migrants. Urban and foreign immigrants on the contrary had a similar spacing behavior as the native Antwerp population. For more information, see S. Moreels, M. Vandezande, and K. Matthijs, ‘‘Fertility in the Port City of Antwerp (1846-1920). A Detailed Analysis of Immigrants’ Spacing Behaviour in an Urbanizing Context,’’ Working paper of the Scientific Research Community Historical Demography, no. 14 (2010). http://soc.kuleuven.be/ceso/ historischedemografie/resources/pdf/WOGä20workingä20paper14.pdf.
