Goody-Duerr

The Goody reading reminded me that marriage was often an economic arrangement. Marriage to a close relative was an efficient way to insure that a families’ resources could remain concentrated within the family. I can clearly see how marriage to a cousin eliminated the need to share a families resources with outsiders. Marriage amongst kin in small villages in France also kept newlyweds from moving off to the village of a spouse. While marriage to kin had economic advantages for the family this practice was opposed by the laws of the Church. From the reading it shown that while Church laws existed their practice was not always the norm in higher or lower portions of society, “The rules of the Church gave rise to tensions throughout society since they prevented individuals from doing what they saw as being in the best interests, socially as well as personally, of themselves and their families.”(Goody p.185) In the 11th century primogeniture was another practice used to make efficient use of the family resources, while probably very distasteful to the bachelor sons.