Girl power: the European marriage pattern and labour markets in the North Sea region in the late medieval and early modern period1

Abstract

This article argues that the European Marriage Pattern (EMP) has played a fundamental role in western Europe’s economic development. The EMP emerged in north-western Europe in the late medieval period as a result of the preaching of the Catholic Church promoting marriage based on consensus, the rise of labour markets, and specific institutions concerning property transfers between generations that encouraged wage labour by women. It resulted in a demographic regime embedded in a highly commercial environment, in which households interacted frequently with labour, capital, and commodity markets.We also discuss possible long-term consequences for human capital formation and institution building.