I found a very interesting post about marriage settlements and why upper class families weren't really thrilled at the prospect of their daughters marrying below their status:
If we take a moment to consider what a settlement might look like between an aristocrat's daughter and a commoner, this might elucidate for us (one of the many reasons) why her parents would be less than enthused about approving such a marriage. The dowry would likely include properties that had been in the family for generations, land and estates that were a source of pride for the family. The bridegroom, in return, would offer the bride... what?
Arranged marriage, with the involvement of responsible and loving parents on both sides and the agreement of the couple, makes so much sense that's it's remarkable that this practice was tossed aside so easily in liberal countries. Who would want their family wealth, property, and status to just evaporate in a generation or two?
ReplyDeleteBut now even wealthy families tend not to care! Now we have even European royalty marrying just whomever. The results are social disintegration and chaos at every level.
As the choices of marriage have become more individualistic over time, the success of marriages has declined in proportion. Ironic isn't it, that individuals so often see less clearly in these choices than involved and loving family members do?
Years ago I visited a wealthy Lebanese Christian church in Oklahoma and learned that the community had remained intact and grown wealthy over the last century because the families would disinherit their children if they married without the family's permission. Few wanted to lose access to the family wealth, but the deeper purpose was about upholding ethnic community. The positive results seemed to speak for themselves, though in fairness I only observed these marriages for a few weeks as an outsider.
In the 19th century Napoleon occupied a big part of Europe and brought secularism and French laws everywhere. The French law after the revolution forbade parents from disinheriting their children and abolished primogeniture. Every child had to get exactly the same portion of inheritance. Education and marriage became secular institutions, governed by the State not the Church. UK was never occupied by France so kept these traditions longer. Napoleon also emancipated well you know.
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