Reflections on the European Marriage Pattern: Sharecropping and Proletarianization in Casalecchio,Italy,1861–1921

Reviewed in light of evidence from the commune of Casalecchio, the Hajnal thesis and its subsequent reformulations are shown to be in need of modification. With respect to the “Mediterranean marriage pattern” (postulated by Peter Laslett), the Casalecchio evidence shows a strong patrilocal tradition of postmarital residence but not a concomitant early female age at marriage, a large spousal gap, or a small proportion of people who never marry. Moreover, marriage age remained relatively high during the period of proletarianization and the proletarian segment of the community married at much the same ages as the most traditional sharecropping population. The relationship between the impact of industrialization and marriage age in particular is therefore more complex than has been hypothesized.