Changing patterns of familial sociability: Family members as witnesses to (Re)Marriage in nineteenth-century flanders

Journal of Family History

Volumn 31, Issue 2, 2006, Pages 115-143

  Matthijs, Koen ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF LEUVEN   (Belgium)

Author keywords

Familiarization; Marriage ceremony; Witnesses

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; BELGIUM; DEMOGRAPHY; FAMILY RELATION; HISTORY; HUMAN; MARRIAGE;

BELGIUM; DEMOGRAPHY; FAMILY RELATIONS; HISTORY, 19TH CENTURY; HUMANS; MARRIAGE;

EID: 34247661298     PISSN: 03631990     EISSN: 15525473     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0363199005284871     Document Type: Article

References (104)

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11. Bastard children, abandoned children, stepfamilies, cohabitation, and barbarian ways were thrown onto the dung heap of society. By contrast, anyone wanting to celebrate highly valued family rites, organize birthday parties, buy distinctive children's clothes, or spend Christmas in a family group simply had to marry. Families were or became museums of family portraits and family albums, timeless places where the past was constantly commemorated.
12. John R. Gillis, "Making the Family: The Invention of Family Times(s) and the Reinvention of Family History," Journal of Family History 21, no. 1 (1996): 4-21.
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19. Andrejs Plakans and Charles Wetherell, "Households and Kinship Networks: The Costs and Benefits of Contextualization," Continuity and Change 18, no. 1 (2003): 58, 70.
20. James E. Smith and Jim Oeppen, "Estimating Numbers of Kin in Historical England Using Demographic Micro simulation," in Reher and Schofield, Old and New Methods in Historical Demography, 293.
21. Koen Matthijs, Dematelozenegentiende eeuw. Bevolking, huwelijk, gezinensocialeverandering (The Extravagant Nineteenth Century: Population, Marriage, Family and Social Change) (Leuven: Universitaire Pers, 2001), 179.
22. Ron Lesthaeghe, The Decline of Belgian Fertility Patterns, 1800-1970 (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press,1977)
23. Ansley J. Coale and Susan C. Watkins, The Decline of Fertility in Europe (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1986)
24. Jan Van Bavel, Demografische reproductie en sociale evolutie: geboortenbeperking in Leuven: 1846-1910 (Demographic Reproduction and Social Evolution: Birth Control in Leuven, 1846-1910) (Leuven: Universitaire Pers, 2002).
25. Wendy Post, Frans van Poppel, Evert van Imhoff, and Ellen Kruse, "Reconstructing the Extended Kin-Network in the Netherlands with Genealogical Data: Methods, Problems, and Results," Population Studies 51 (1977): 263-278, esp. 277.
26. Wendy Post, Frans van Poppel, Evert van Imhoff, and Ellen Kruse, "Reconstructing the Extended Kin-Network in the Netherlands with Genealogical Data: Methods, Problems, and Results," Population Studies 51 (1977): 263-278, esp. 272.
27. Steven Ruggles, "Availability of Kin and the Demography of Historical Family Structure," Historical Methods 19 (1986): 93-102.
28. Andrejs Plakans, "Intergenerational Ambivalences in the Past: A Social-Historical Assessment," in Pillemer and Lüscher, Intergenerational Ambivalences, 66.
29. Mary Jo Maynes, "Introduction: Young Women in Europe in the Era of 'First-Wave' Feminisms: Analyses of Generation and Gender," Continuity and Change 19, no. 3 (2004): 343-45.
30. Frans van Poppel, "Marriage as a Farewell to Youth: Regional and Social Differentiation in the Age at Marriage in the Nineteenth-Century Netherlands," Pedagogica Historia 29, no. 3 (1993): 94-95.
31. Matthijs, "Mimetic Appetite for Marriage."
32. Jan van Bavel, Demografische reproductie en sociale evolutie, 272-77.
33. George Alter, Muriel Neven, and Michel Oris, "Mortality and Modernization in Sart and Surroundings, 1812-1900," in Life under Pressure: Mortality and Living Standards in Europe and Asia, 1700-1900, ed. Tommy Bengtsson, James Lee, and Cameron Campbell (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2004), 186-95.
34. Maynes, "Introduction."
35. Hugh Cunningham, Het kind in het westen. Vijf eeuwen geschiedenis (The Child in the West: Five Centuries of History) (Amsterdam: Van Gennep, 1997), 95-99.
36. Within that context, we also note that considerable status differences existed in terms of the increase during the course of the nineteenth century in the proportion of bridegrooms and brides who could sign the marriage certificate
37. Matthijs, De mateloze negentiende eeuw, 80-84
38. Besides a difference in financial resources, this also points to differences regarding conceptions of youth, upbringing, intragenerational relationships, and intergenerational pressure.
39. This theme fits in conceptually as well as empirically with another discussion, still underway among historical demographers
40. David I. Kertzer and Marzio Barbagli, eds., Family Life in the Long Nineteenth Century, 1789-1913 [New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2002], xxiii-xxviii
41. Concerning the question of whether the decline in fertility at the time of the demographic transition (which took place largely during the period of our research) was a process of adjustment or of innovation (and then diffusion).
42. Koen Matthijs, "Frequency, Timing and Intensity of Remarriage in 19th Century Flanders," History of the Family: An International Quarterly 8, no. 1 (2003): 135-62.
43. Various factors explain the decline in remarriage intensity: falling mortality, the demographically less favorable remarriage market, and remarriage-unfriendly economic and cultural changes. Because first marriage intensity increased in the same period (see text), the proportion of those remarrying fell sharply during the course of the nineteenth century: from one in five around 1800 to one in ten by around 1900
44. Matthijs, De mateloze negentiende eeuw, 207-10.
45. The entire study group contained only thirteen female witnesses; they were rejected from the analysis.
46. Koen Matthijs, "Huwen tijdens de advent en de vasten in de 19de eeuw in Vlaanderen," Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Nieuwste Geschiedenis 31, nos. 1/2 (2001): 75-112.
47. Historical aspects of nineteenth-century Leuven are discussed by J. A. Torfs, GeschiedenisvanLeuven. Vandenvroegstentijdtotopheden (History of Leuven: From the Earliest Times to the Present) (Leuven: Drukkerij Emiel Charpentier, 1899)
48. W. G. Jonckheere, Bevolking en mortaliteit. Aspecten van de demografische evolutie te Leuven onder het Frans Bewind (1794-1814) (Population and Mortality: Aspects of the Demographic Evolution in Leuven under the French Regime, 1794-1814) (Leuven: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven [here- after, K. U. Leuven], Department of History lecture, 1960)
49. Hendrik Camerlinckx, Bijdrage tot een studie van de demografische en sociaal-economische structuur van Leuven tijdens het Hollands Bewind (Contribution to a Study of the Demographic and Socioeconomic Structure of Leuven during the Dutch Regime) (Leuven: K. U. Leuven, Department of History lecture, 1960)
50. Michel Magits, Demografische en sociale structuren te Leuven (1846-1860). Bijdrage tot de stadsgeschiedenis in de 19de eeuw (Demographic and Social Structures in Leuven [1846- 1860]: Contribution to the City's History in the Nineteenth Century) (Brussels: VUB, Centre for Social Structures and the Economy, 1974)
51. Stadsbestuur Leuven, Leuven, een stad die groeit (Leuven: A Growing City) (Leuven: Stadsbestuur, 1975)
52. Jaak Brepoels et al., Stadsboek Leuven(CitybookofLeuven) (Leuven: Kritak, 1985)
53. J. Van Croonenborch, De Leuvense Vaart (The Vaart in Leuven) (Leuven: K. U. Leuven, Department of History lecture, 1988); Marcel G. Peeters, Leven in het oude Leuven (Living in Old Leuven) (Ghent: Stichting Mens en Kultuur, 1992)
54. Koen Matthijs, Jan Van Bavel, and Ilse Van de Velde, Leuvenindenegentiende eeuw. Debevolking: eenspiegelvanhetdagelijkse leven (Leuveninthe Nineteenth Century: The Population,a Reflection of Everyday Life) (Leuven: Acco, 1997).
55. Historical aspects of nineteenth-century Aalst are discussed in Fritz Courteaux and A. Van Lul, "Aalst in de 19de eeuw" (Aalst in the Nineteenth Century), Gazet van Aalst en omstreken 13 (1956): 170-207
56. B. Van Rossem, Bijdrage tot de studie van het analfabetisme en de geschiedenis van het lager onderwijs te Aalst (1790-1860) (Contribution to the Study of Illit- eracy and the History of Primary Education in Aalst, 1790-1860) (Leuven: K. U. Leuven, Department of History, 1965)
57. D. Van Melkebeke, Seizoensarbeid in het arrondissement Aalst (1880-1914) (Seasonal Labor in the District of Aalst, 1880-1914) (Leuven: K. U. Leuven, Department of History, 1977)
58. Chris Willems, De Dender en zijn Vlaamse steden. Geraardsbergen, Ninove, Aalst en Dendermonde (The Dender and Its Flemish Towns: Geraardsbergen, Ninove, Aalst and Dendermonde) (Brussels: Artis-Historia, 1984)
59. Patrick Praet, Bijdrage tot de studie over de armoede in Aalst tijdens de 19de eeuw (Contribution to the Study of Poverty in Aalst during the Nineteenth Century) (Leuven: K. U. Leuven, Department of History, 1986)
60. 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) (From Paternalism to Emancipation: A Contribution to the Socioeconomic History of the District of Aalst, Published to Mark 150 Years of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the Aalst Region,1841-1991) (Aalst: Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 1991)
61. H. De Hauwere, Vergelijking tussen twee Vlaamse steden die een zeer verschillende demografische ontwikkeling kenden in de hedendaagse tijden (1784-1940): Aalst en Dendermonde (Comparison between Two Flemish Cities and Their Very Different Demo- graphic Development in Modern Times [1784-1940]: Aalst and Dendermonde) (Leuven: K. U. Leuven, Department of History lecture, n.d.).
62. For more information on Bierbeek, see K. Bovin, V. Goedseels, and P. Van Mellaert, BoerderijeninBierbeek(FarmsinBierbeek) (Leuven:CentrumAgrarischeBouwkunde,1985)
63. Emiel Vliebergh and Rob Ulens, Het Hageland. Zijne plattelandsche bevolking in de XIXde eeuw(The Hageland: Its Rural Population in the Nineteenth Century) (Brussels:Hayez,1914).
64. Hilda 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
65. P. Scholliers, De Ghentse textielarbeiders in de 19de en 20ste eeuw. Dossier 6: herkomst, huisvesting, arbeids-en levensomstandigheden van de werk- krachten van het bedrijf A., Voortman -N.V. Texas (Brussel: VUB, Centrum voor Hedendaagse Sociale Geschiedenis, 1977)
66. Peter Scholliers, De Ghentse metaalarbeiders in de 19de eeuw (Metal worker sin Ghent in the Nineteenth Century) (Brussel:VUB,CentrumvoorHedendaagse Sociale Geschiedenis, 1985)
67. P. Scholliers, Wages, Manufacturers and Workers in the 19th Century Factory: The Voortman Cotton Mill in Ghent (Oxford: Berg,1996)
68. G. Avondts, R. Moonen, and Peter Scholliers, De Ghentse textielarbeiders in de 19de en de 20ste eeuw (Ghent Textile Workers in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries) (Brussels: VUB, Centrum voor Hedendaagse Sociale Geschiedenis, n.d.)
69. Bart van de Putte, Partnerkeuze in de 19de eeuw. Klasse, geografische afkomst, romantiek en de vorming van sociale groepen op de huwelijksmarkt (Partner Selection in the Nineteenth Century: Class, Geographic Origin, Romanticism, and the Formation of Social Groups on the Marriage Market) (Leuven: Univer- sitaire Pers, 2005).
70. The marriage certificates almost always state the occupation of the bridegroom, but state that of the bride much less frequently
71. Matthijs, De mateloze negentiende eeuw. Some officials evidently did not think that the work of certain women was important enough to ask about, let alone state. Furthermore, for various reasons, some marrying women withheld their occupations from the attention of the officials and thus from the eyes of society. Others stopped working when they married. The description housewife occurs only rarely; apparently, this was not seen as an occupation in the strict sense of the word. One other problem is the description no occupation. This can refer to a high social level (people who were so rich that they neither had to nor wanted to work and also wanted to be registered as such) as well as to unemployed people looking for work, non-job-seeking housewives, or home workers who did not state their job as an occupation (lace workers, for example). The status of people marrying, particularly of brides, is determined not only by their own education, occupation, and income but also by that of their parents, particularly the father. His occupation is, however, (usually) only registered on the certificate if he was still alive at the time of the marriage ceremony. In our study, this was true in one out of two cases. Nonetheless, the social weight of the father does not expire when he dies. The extent to which prospective brides attached importance to their own occupation (or status) or to that of their fathers depends on the value attached to those occupations. The higher their own occupation and the lower that of the father, the more the woman will make of her own occupation on the marriage market. If the father has a highly regarded occupation, however, she will make more of her background on the marriage market. Additional measurement problems are posed by the fact that a person's social status at the time of the marriage ceremony is determined by both their own and their parents' positions
72. Leah Leneman, "No Unsuitable Match: Defining Rank in Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth-Century Scotland,"Journal of Social History 33, no. 4 (2000): 669-700
73. For the way in which these problems were resolved, please refer to Matthijs, De mateloze negentiende eeuw, 68-80.
74. Matthijs, De mateloze negentiende eeuw, 68-73.
75. These tables contain some anomalies, which almost certainly have to do with administrative procedures and official registration practices.
76. Matthijs, "Mimetic Appetite for Marriage."
77. Post, van Poppel, van Imhoff, and Kruse,"Reconstructing the Extended Kin-Network."
78. Tamara K. Hareven, Families, History, and Social Change: Life-Course and Cross Cultural Perspectives (Oxford: Westview, 2000), 82-85
79. David I. Kertzer and Marzio Barbagli, eds., Family Life in the Long Nineteenth Century, 1789-1913 (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2002), 61-67.
80. In this "modernizing" social context, the distribution and allocation of positions and functions took place increasingly less via designated positions (specifically, birth) and even more via acquired positions (specifically, knowledge and skill). A new status scale developed, one based more than beforehand on one's own contribution, economic performances, and intellectual merits. This was made possible or encouraged by the sharp increase in literacy (for empirical basis in the research region, see Matthijs, De mateloze negentiende eeuw, 80-83).
81. William Josiah Goode, World Revolution and Family Patterns (Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press, 1963), 12-13.
82. Hareven, Families, History, and Social Change, 52-62.
83. The status-specific evolution in the number and proportion of witnessing family members (for first marriages) is examined separately for the five regions. This division leads in some cases to a small number of observation units. This is certainly the case for Appelterre, where the proportion of witnessing family members was already limited. Moreover, (reliable) registration of the characteristics of witnesses only started around 1850. For this reason, only limited attention is devoted to the data from Appelterre. For the other regions, sufficient observations are (usually) available, but for Aalst this is only the case from 1870 onward, and for Leuven from 1835 onward.
84. Our research group contained a total of eight female witnesses. They were rejected from the analysis.
85. Matthijs, "Frequency, Timing and Intensity of Remarriage."
86. Matthijs, "Demographic and Sociological Indicators of Privatisation."
87. David Warren Sabean, Kinship in Neckarhausen 1700-1871 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998).
88. This can partly be compensated because they can choose an adult son as a witness. In practice, however, this rarely occurs: the total research groups only contained ninety such cases, eighty-two in Ghent and Leuven. For this reason, they are not analyzed separately.
89. Matthijs, "Frequency, Timing and Intensity of Remarriage"
90. Hettie A. Pott-Buter, Facts and Fairy Tales about Female Labor, Family and Fertility. A Seven-Country Comparison, 1850-1990 (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 1993), 19-21.
91. Robert Roberts, The Classic Slum: Salford Life in the First Quarter of the Century (Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin, 1973).
92. Ariès, Centuries of Childhood.
93. Shorter, The Making of the Modern Family.
94. Stone, The Family, Sex and Marriage in England.
95. Michael Anderson, Family Structure in Nineteenth-Century Lancashire (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971).
96. Tamara K. Hareven, Family Time and Industrial Time: The Relationship between the Family and Work in a New England Industrial Community (NewYork:AcademicPress,1982).
97. Matthijs, "Mimetic Appetite for Marriage."
98. Sabean, Kinship in Neckarhausen.
99. Talcott Parsons, "The Kinship System of the Contemporary United States," American Anthropologist 45 (1943), 22-23
100. This doctrine of separate life spheres was highly functional for the rapidly growing industrialized societies. Nineteenth-century macro developments had major micro social consequences. The new status struggle was to a large extent "public" and "economic," and, in this sense, "male." Despite the impact of the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, and despite the growth of liberalism and economic expansion-in other words, despite "favorable" conditions-women were increasingly kept out or pushed out of public life. In a manner of speaking, women were banished to the private living environment. I argued (in Matthijs, "Mimetic Appetite for Marriage") that economic and political marginalization encouraged women to develop their dyadic power in primary relationships: creating an identity around expressive family and motherhood tasks was, for many women, are action to and a remedy for their public exclusion and economic subordination. Women created and lived in a separate, parallel society, and to understand this sociologically, one has to study not only the male world but also the female culture, that is, women's domestic labor, friendship networks, child-rearing activities, community contacts, domestic time experience, and crucial life choices
101. Elaine Silverman, "Writing Canadian Women's History: An Historiographical Analysis," Canadian Historical Review 63, no. 4 [1982]: 521-69
102. Margaret Conrad, Making Adjustments: Change and Continuity in Planter Nova Scotia, 1759-1800 [Fredericton, Canada: Acadiensis Press, 1991]
103. Women developed a separate, "female" status scale within their private world, which revolved around a "good" marriage, a "clean" home, a "closed" family, "expressive" contacts, and a permanently available mother. Thus, during the course of the nineteenth century, the division of tasks became even more gender specific than it already was.
104. Georges Duby and Michelle Perrot, Geschiedenis van de vrouw. Deel 3. De negentiende eeuw (History of the Woman, Part 3: The Nineteenth Century), ed. Geneviève Fraisse and Michelle Perrot (Amsterdam: Agon, 1993).