historicall.y

Marriage of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn The common belief about marriage in Tudor England is that people married at extremely young ages and had no choice. Surprisingly, this was not typically the case. Studies show that in Elizabethan times, the average age for women to marry was 26 years old and for men- between the ages of 27 and 29 years old. This was because the average family had to save up money for the newly wedded couple to rent a house and for basic necessities. However 1 in 6 people were not married in their forties and it is likely that they never married after that. Wealthy families married their children into other wealthy families; it was a need for them to have good connections. The parents had more control over there lives and if a girl was to marry, she just had to have a dowry. A dowry is a sum of money that is paid by the bride and her family to the groom and his family. Rich children could expect to have their spouse chosen for them by their parents. Unfor...