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Love, Family and Sexualities > Sex and Marriage > Flashcards

Sex and Marriage Flashcards

1
Q

Why was marriage so important in early modern england?

A

Family household = important unit of production/consumption and an institution of social order and political authority - therefore involved the couples family as well

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2
Q

What did early modern philosophy teach about marriage?

A

Rule of the householder over his wife and children as analogous as a prince over his subjects

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3
Q

What was adultery considered to be in social theory?

A

Hateful act against God

Threat to the wellbeing of the commonwealth and hence subject to a legal penalty

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4
Q

What led to greater stress on the role of the family household in religion?

A

Governments concern for religious unity and hope of clerics to improve standards of religious belief, knowledge and practise - hope that the household is where good religion should be taught and therefore they should be stable

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5
Q

What was the typical early modern family?

A

Nuclear - only about 10% contained wider family members

If in middle ranks - one servant or apprentice (regarded as part of family by law)

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6
Q

What contact did more distant relatives have?

A

Upper classes - active relationship die to pride in ancestry
Lower to middle classes - contact only to close family

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7
Q

What would marriage entail?

A

Leaving parents house for good and setting up your own
Transfer of property across the generations
Gained adulthood and therefore prestige - now had duties

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8
Q

What was a key conflicting in society when it came to marriage?

A

Contemporary society believes marriage is so important it can’t be left to 2 people and therefore needs outside regulation
Religious principle state marriage is between the couple - divinely ordained to avoid fornication and to procreate

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9
Q

When was the earliest someone could get married?

A

12 for girls
14 for boys
Little social relieve as most people married later

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10
Q

What was the difference in marriage ages related to class?

A

Middling to upper classes regardless of gender got married earlier than poorer individuals

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11
Q

Why did most people marry later?

A

Believe a person should be of ‘sufficient age and experience’
People given freedom in their young days from marriage and responsibilities of adulthood

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12
Q

What was perhaps the most powerful inducement to postpone marriage?

A

The need to get the skills and resources to maintain a household e.g. economic competence

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13
Q

Why did the issue of gaming on financial independence for marriage get more contentious in the early 17th century?

A

Harsh economic conditions - does that mean poor people can’t get married? (Goes giants Christian teachings)
Parish authorities tried to prevent poor marriages so they couldn’t claim benefit

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14
Q

How could a union be formed in law?

A

The consent of two parties expressed in words of the present tense (no witnesses, presence in church were necessary)

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15
Q

Why was it so easy to make a bond of marriage?

A

Protect individual freedom - but eventually led to confusion

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16
Q

Did the law regarding making a marriage contract change?

A

Yes in continental Europe but reform resorted in england until 1753

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17
Q

What did the church try it insist through court action?

A

That marriages should be formalised and sanctified by ecclesiastical solemnisation

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18
Q

How did common lawyers help the church in attempting to formalise weddings?

A

Ensured property rights depended on proof of a church wedding

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19
Q

What was the common practise when it came to marriage by Elizabethan times?

A

Marriages conducted in a public church with a delving rate of binding marriage contracts being made beforehand to help with spiritual preparation

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20
Q

What were clandestine marriages and why were they of concern?

A

Marriages taking place outside of public view e.g. outside parish but still conducted by a minister and involving solemnisation (reflecting its importance e.g. even for eloping couples) - concerning as it avoided the formalities of banns and licences

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21
Q

What was a key concern regarding irregular marriages?

A

Parental influence - traditional church law championed the consent of the couple in order to avoid families using children fir property accumulation or dynastic manovering

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22
Q

How did the issues of families involvement in marriage gain prominence?

A

Early 16th century: clerical and lay commentators believed the law provided inadequate protection for family interests

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23
Q

What legal changes occurred in 1604 regarding parental involvement in marriage?

A

Children under 21 couldn’t get married without parental consent
Marriage licences required proof of parental consent regardless of age
Balance between two extremes

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24
Q

What was the aim in laws requiring parental consent?

A

Mutual consent of the various interest involved in the marriage
Not the dictation of parents e.g. many denounced arranged marriages that were not beneficial for the spouses or for the purposes of commercial/dynastic gain

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25
Q

What criteria for a proposed marriage did moralists champion?

A

Shield be a good liking or love between the spouses
Urged attention to interior as opposed to outward beauty
Should be similar in age, religious values etc.

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26
Q

According to Lawrence Stone what was the typical family form in the early 16th century?

A

Open lineage - extensive kin ties, disregard for individual autonomy and privacy and a low level of emotional attachment between family members
Marriages largely arranged for commercial profits

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27
Q

What type of family began to emerge in the early 17th century?

A

Restricted patriarchal nuclear family - less open to outside influences with warmer domestic relationships, influence of Puritan emphasis on love in marriage meant children had a small role in picking spouses

28
Q

What does Stone emphasise?

A

In lower levels of society there was greater freedom of choice since financial gain from marriage was unlikely - but love still didn’t play a huge role ( more about finding a spouse that could work)

29
Q

What are common criticisms of Stone’s analysis?

A

Exaggerates strength of parental influence
Underestimates role of romantic love
Gives inadequate attention to middling groups

30
Q

What evidence is there that Stone underestimated the role of romantic love?

A

Only happened in the highest aristocratic circles

In most gentry circles children did have some initiative (especially males)

31
Q

What is another reason parental influence in marriage want strong in poorer fans of society?

A

Due to low expectation of life and high marriage ages many children had lost one or both parents by the time they reached marriage age

32
Q

What was the case of parental involvement in marriage in the middling ranks?

A

Children had initiative in finding a spouse but parents expected to be consulted

33
Q

What happened in middling ranks if parents disapproved of the potential marriage?

A

Would employ financial pressure (couple wouldn’t have the resources to set up a household)

34
Q

What other people had an influence in marriage?

A

Wider kin - if they intended to bequeath property
Siblings - of the marriage would effect their condition
Masters, neighbours and local minister also played role as surrogate parents

35
Q

How common was similarity between partners in marriage?

A

Age gaps not uncommon

36
Q

Did people often marry outside their social class?

A

No - therefore marriage served to reinforce socio-economic distinctions

37
Q

What sources testify to the importance of romantic love?

A

Diaries and incidental references in court records - used terms such as ‘fancy’ and ‘delight’
Widely accepted that an ideal marriage required some magnetism

38
Q

What can we conclude overall about marriage formation?

A

Attitudes to marriage formation were complex
No clear cut pattern of arranged and free marriages
Love, community values and parental involvement all played a role

39
Q

Were everyday relationship between man and wife and their children of concern to church courts?

A

No - not unless they involved sexual immorality

40
Q

What did discuss and put great emphasis on family relationships?

A

Sermons and conduct books by moralists who regarded the ‘right ordering’ of families as essential to the commonwealth

41
Q

What did Lawrence Stone argue about family relations?

A

The notion of ‘love’ didn’t lead to caring relationship but to wives and children being subjected to patriarchal authority and being subjected to harsh discipline/abuse

42
Q

What is a key criticism of Stone’s argument regarding family relations?

A

He conflates legal attitudes with actual practise within the home
Legal = wives had no propertied rights independent of their husbands and allowed husband to beat wife
Reality = homily’s stressed that good marriages involved a loving relationship and many people denounced wife beating as shameful

43
Q

Despite arguments against Stones thesis, were all marriages peaceful?

A

No - court records demonstrate there was child neglect and domestic abuse

44
Q

Was is possible to get a divorce?

A

No due to the sanctity of the married state and the indissolubility of the conjugal bond

45
Q

What was one route to end a marriage?

A

Get an annulment on the grounds of impotence, incest, a previous marriage existing or one souse being under age

46
Q

What resulted from an annulment?

A

Remarriage possible
Woman barred from her dower rights - share of husbands estate after death
Children born from the union bastardised

47
Q

Who and for what reasons were annulments laws attacked?

A

Protests reformers accused them of being to complex/extensive e.g. incest laws banned marriage between third cousins (not workable) - church accused of making money form confusion by selling dispensations

48
Q

What was another method to end a marriage?

A

Judicial separation (from bed and board) - granted on proof of adultery or extreme cruelty (didn’t effect wife’s dower rights or children’s status but remarriage not permitted)

49
Q

Why did Protestant reformers criticise judicial separation?

A

Argued that adultery dissolved the marriage bond and the innocent party should have the right to remarry

50
Q

What was the effect of Protestant sectaries advocating for divorce?

A

1604 canon laws strongly reaffirmed ban on remarriage in backlash

51
Q

Was there a demand outside theological circles for divorce reform?

A

Difficult to tell - commonplace that this involved in marital breakdown would separate without consulting the court

52
Q

What were common reasons for broken marriages amongst the poor?

A

Feckless husbands who abandoned their wives

Immense poverty

53
Q

What were the results of the bigamy act of 1604?

A

Made it a felony to marry again whilst the first spouse was alive - gave jurisdiction over bigamy cases from spiritual to secular courts

54
Q

After the bigamy law of 1604 what jurisdiction did the church court still have?

A

Petitions for annulment or separation

Prosecution of those who separated without a judicial order

55
Q

What was the common fate of reforming attempts regarding marriage and divorce?

A

Traditional position had been reaffirmed with only minor modifications

56
Q

Who was in charge of punishment for sexual immorality?

A

Overwhelmingly the church courts

Limited secular punishment e.g. justices of the peace driving people out of town

57
Q

Why did the issue of church authority over punishment become an issue in the 16th century?

A

Growing demand for harsher punishments for sexual offences
E.g. puritans advocated for the death penalty
Church courts couldn’t accommodate this and therefore reformers pinned their hopes of secular lawmaking

58
Q

What was the only significant secular parliament legislation that dealt with punishment for sexual immorality?

A

Measures to ensure maintenance of poor bastard children and punishment for guilty parents e.g. mothers ent to house of corrections for a year

59
Q

Why was their a growth in concern over sexual immorality in this period?

A

Growing trend of taking biblical words seriously
Many believed social morals were becoming lax and beloved there was a double standard in punishing women and not men
Financial concern e.g. bastards

60
Q

How did some people attempt to stop sexual dalliance?

A

Puritans attacked festivals and attempted to regulate inns and ale houses
Moralists urged personal responsibility

61
Q

Did couples have sex before their weddings but after contracting a marriage contract?

A

It was common - Philip hair in a study of 77 parishes found that bridal pregnancy was common (around a fifth)

62
Q

Where do we get are information about the rates of bastard births?

A

Parish registers of baptisms specified if the baby was illegitimate - national rate of around 3% -probably higher as not all bastards baptised

63
Q

What is another reason why the bastardy rate was low?

A

Abortion - abortive qualities of herb ‘savin’ were known as well as references to other potions
Given poor hygiene many illicit pregnancies likely ended in miscarriage

64
Q

Were the church rulings on sexual morality relevant to poor people?

A

No because for them sex wasn’t a moral issue

65
Q

What does Wrightson suggest about unmarried mothers (bastard bearers)?

A

Many the same age as women having children within marriage - simply unlucky as many were in the process of planning marriage but an outside event e,g, death or economic hardship stopped it

66
Q

What popular customs were unused to punish those accused of illicit sexual conduct?

A

Mobs would play rough music (bang pots and pans)

Write derisive poems targeted at individuals e,g, Micheal Robbins “That he may have time, thy wife for a fuck”

67
Q

What does the prevalence of popular customs of humiliation tell us ?

A

Environment in which accusations of sexual immorality were gossiped about
Suggest a popular intolerance of blatant immorality
Indicate the importance of sexual reputation - sexual credit an important sign of respectability

Love, Family and Sexualities (5 decks)

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