Marriage Patterns in the Early Modern British Landed Elite: A Study of Warwickshire,1400–1749

Abstract

This article undertakes a demographic analysis of the landed elite of Warwickshire from the late Middle Ages to the early eighteenth century. It analyzes nuptiality and endogamy in marriages of peers and upper gentry (knights, baronets, and esquires). Major findings include: the marriage pattern before the eighteenth century was one in which women “married down;” significant changes occurred around 1550 and after 1650; generalizations about the demography of peers cannot necessarily be extrapolated to the upper gentry; and the marriage patterns of English Catholics after 1550 differed from those of English Protestants and resembled those of continental Catholic elites.