Abstract
The study examines the question of whether birth order influenced the marriage circumstances of peasant daughters and whether a change in inheritance practice influenced marriage strategies. The research was conducted on the Šťáhlavy estate in western Bohemia, where 94 families, formed in 1701–1820, were selected. The sample under study was made up of 256 daughters surviving into adulthood, divided into four categories based on birth order (eldest, youngest, middle, and only daughters). The research focused on several parameters, such as how large the percentage of women who entered into marriage was. It was also examined whether they entered into homogamous marriages as regards social class, age and family status and whether they married while their fathers were still alive. All these parameters were observed in the context of a change in inheritance practice (1787) consisting of ultimogeniture being gradually replaced by primogeniture.
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