Calendar and Marriage Age for Parisian Jews: Between Biblical Prescriptions and Social Compliance, 1875-1914

Résumé 0

This study is based on a corpus of weddings held at the Synagogue de la Victoire from 1875-1914. The sampled population, although perhaps not a practicing one, thus demonstrates a respect for certain traditions, namely that of a religious ceremony. The results of the study show that the influence of Jewish precepts remained marked in the period leading up to and including the wedding day. For the Jewish upper classes, the adherence to religious customs was combined with certain practices revealing the social etiquette unique to that particular milieu. Focusing on age at the time of marriage, however, the figures show upper- and middle-class acculturation behavior, all faiths combined. Men from more working-class backgrounds also married relatively late, contrary to the trend in the general population. Only women adopted the behavior in greater numbers. Finally, the unique model ascribed to elites showing significant age differences between the bride and groom may be tempered by the strategy of choosing spouses from among close relatives. Couples closer in age can be observed in certain large international banking families who did not manage to find suitable marriage partners from among close relatives who also represented a sizable difference in the ages of bride and groom.