The patterns of concluding marriages in Poznań in the 19 th century
Abstract
The aim of the paper is to describe patterns of concluding marriages and various factors affecting them in Poznań in the second half of the 19th century . In order to do so , registrar ’ s marriage books from the Piotrowo district for the years 1874 – 1899 were used . In the area covered by the Piotrowo Registrar Office , first marriages dominated , i . e . ones concluded between bache lors and maidens . They comprised over 73 % of all marriages concluded . Another group were marriages between bachelors and widows and widowers and maidens – 6 % and 5 % of all marriages , respectively . In the Piotrowo Registrar Office , on the day of marriage , maidens marrying bachelors were 23 years old on average , while those marrying widowers were 27 . Bachelors married maidens at the age of 25.5 on average , while those who married widows were slightly above 27 . Widowers who married maidens were on average 38 years old , while those marrying widows – 48 . Widows who married bachelors were slightly above 27 years old on the day of marriage . In the Piotrowo district of Poznań , the factors that influenced the choice of the spouse included age , education and social position .