Maria Ågren Books

Marriage serves as a crucial social and legal institution today, with historical roots as a key economic institution. This collection presents original research on the economic, social, and legal history of marital partnerships in northern Europe over a span of 500 years. The introduction sets the stage by examining the marital economy from a comparative perspective. The first section explores the formation of partnerships, discussing topics such as the enforcement of marriage contracts in Norway, the roles of family and friends in early modern England, and the social and economic dynamics among Swedish elites from 1650 to 1770. It also delves into the early modern Finnish countryside and the accumulation of wealth and skills through hired work in rural England. The second section focuses on managing partnerships, covering decision-making regarding marital property in Norway, the authority of Danish marital law, gender roles in agrarian households in Sweden, and differing perceptions of marital relations in late 19th-century Finland. The final section addresses the dissolution of partnerships, examining issues of separation and divorce in early modern Norway, provisions for marital dissolution in Scotland, property transfer in late medieval Iceland, and decision-making in retirement within the marital economy in Sweden. An afterword discusses the significance of the marital economy in the context of British economic histor