Family in Europe History - Coursework Example

In case a family was already on a high rung in a social ladder, a smart marriage arrangement could be highly advantageous through a thoughtful market strategy. As time passed over the centuries, there was a slow and gradual change towards more freedom of choice and a much greater acceptance of love as a basis for marriage. Parents had every say in the matter in choosing a partner as well as bargaining about the dowry. The general notion was that unless a person could afford to get married they should, otherwise it was not advisable.

Though parents took trouble in working out a marriage for their children, the youngsters met their lovers in the fields, barns, at the fairs and even on pilgrimages. Most marriages took place between members of the same religion, nationality and caste. It is rather surprising to note that the word family did not mean blood relations or related by marriage, but the Latin word “famulus” referred to a domestic establishment’s live – in staff. Until the 19th century, Europeans did not do away with the meaning of family, but as the idea of kinship took shape, the meaning of “family” took on a whole new perspective while the old meaning has become obsolete in these modern times.

In the past a household was not only the private residence of a family, but also a place for the public eye. Historians having worked on demographic data between the 16th and 19th centuries and have put to rest the common notion that people lived in very large households compared to the micro families of today. After much investigation, they have come to rest on the fact that families were of two kinds – small or average and large families. The small families in Europe had one or two children while the large families had about seven to ten members.

However, when comparing the rural and urban households, they found that most of the people in the urban areas preferred to have small families comprising of one or two