Open AccessDifferences between rural and urban marriage seasonality from the early 19th to the early 20th centuries in Northern Belgium
Author(s) -
Hideko Matsuo,
Koenraad Matthijs
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
revue quetelet + quetelet journal/revue quetelet + quetelet journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2593-9157
pISSN - 2593-9149
DOI - 10.14428/rqj2021.09.01.01
Subject(s) - secularization , flemish , late 19th century , geography , demography , index (typography) , rural area , demographic economics , economic geography , period (music) , sociology , political science , economics , law , archaeology , art , world wide web , computer science , aesthetics
This paper examines the impact of secularization on marriage seasonality in two Flemish provinces and Brussels, using place of marriage to distinguish between rural and urban areas. The evolution of the level of church control and secularization between the early 19th and the early 20th centuries is measured through a daily Lent and Advent (DLA) marriage index. A low index value points to a higher level of church control and a lower level of secularization, while a high index value points to a lower level of church control and a higher level of secularization. Sub-samples of civil marriage registers are analysed. DLA-index values are low in the early 19th century but increase slowly throughout the rest of the 19th century albeit with geographical variations. Spatial differences can be explained through different socio-economic and cultural characteristics of the population. Still, similar underlying factors across locations are identified: changes are consistently affected in cities, and driven by non-native brides, skilled and unskilled, but only partially observing for elites. Religious rule of Advent is more moderate than the one for Lent, where less Lent effects are observed.