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Free Choice, Modern Love, and Dependence: Marriage of Minors and Rapt De Séduction in the Austrian Netherlands

University of Antwerp (Centre for Cultural and Urban History)

In the 18th-century Southern Netherlands, rapt de séduction - synonymous with the marriage of minors without parental consent - wasn’t an extinguishing practice. Among the elite groups courtship behaviour of minors was an acute problem. The question was not, however, one of changing norms and values of youngsters. Due to changing relations between different social groups - e.g. between high aristocrats and rich merchants - traditional barriers seem to have been crossed more boldly from about mid-century on, but this does not point to the emergence of notions as "free choice" and "modern love." On the whole youngsters were likely to have followed the wishes of their parents even more desperately then before; and if some minors didn’t, they were genuinely seen as weak and blind victims of their own uncontrollable inner feelings directed at the wrong party. From both perspectives, "free choice" paradoxically resulted in a growing dependency on traditions and authority.

Key Words: love • marriage • ravishment • dependence • symbolic violence • psychoanalysis

Journal of Family History, Vol. 29, No. 2, 183-205 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/0363199004264901


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