Mean Age at Marriage and Kinship Networks in a Town Under the Influence of the Metropolis: Nanterre 1800–1850

Abstract

Marriage patterns in nineteenth-century Nanterre show the economic and social influences of its proximity to Paris. Agricultural production was adjusted to the needs of the rapidly expanding metropolis, and the town's economy became diversified. The intensive and profitable agriculture in Nanterre allowed farmers to transfer land to their children and retire at early ages. The marriages of farmers were relatively young, but they retained the West European pattern of independent nuclear households. The strong influence of kinship networks is apparent in the strict social endogamy of farm couples. Artisans and workers, who had migrated into Nanterre, lacked the economic and social support provided by these kinship networks, and their marriages tended to be late.