The Medieval Marriage Market

Bibliographic Data

ID11611538
AuthorsC Moor (University of California, San Francisco, corresponding author)
Year1921
Volume78
Issue1
Pages271-295
Publication date1921-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueArchaeological Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0066-5983 • E-ISSN: 2373-2288
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00665983.1921.10853372
OpenAlexW2324187521
LanguageEN
Citations received11

It is a little difficult to define the term medieval, but in this paper I shall use it as referring chiefly to the five centuries which intervened between the Norman conquest of England and the reformation.FEUDALISM.In order to appreciate the conditions surrounding marriage in those centuries it is necessary to realise certain aspects of feudalism, that all-pervading system under which England was then organised and governed.We know, of course, that Charlemagne, who died in 814, is regarded as the monarch who first developed feudalism upon a national scale.Gibbon, in a famous passage, says that ' dignity of his person, the length of his reign, the prosperity of his arms, the vigour of his government, and the reverence of distant nations distinguish him from the royal crowd, and Europe dates a new era from his restoration of the Western Empire.' 1 Professor Abdy in his lectures on feudalism, says that ' the era of Charlemagne is that of the settlement of order, of law, and of government in France. . . .He strove to make the central government strong and effective by the establishment of national assemblies. . . .He established local government by resident . . .officials, connected closely with the centre by inspecting agents.... In a word, his reign was an era of splendid progress in civilisation and political development.' 2 Sixty years after Charlemagne's death the Northmen settled in France, where they found feudalism firmly rooted.They eagerly accepted and further developed it, and two centuries later William the Conqueror brought it to England

Ancient history · Art · Historical Economic and Social Studies · History

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