Age at first marriage : a rough estimate

France St Louis IX to Louis XI : Part I · Part II · Part III · Part IV · Part V
Stats: Age at death · Age at first marriage : a rough estimate

I broke off a first try after 11 each, ladies and gentlemen, and here is the reason:

Here is my old stats on Inés de la Cerda:

Inés de la Cerda (Spain, 1307 - 24 October 1339), Lady of Bembibre. Married Fernán Rodríguez de Villalobos, Lord of Villalobos. She was buried in the monastery of San Francisco de Villafranca, near Valcárcel.

Here I find sth different:

Inés de la Cerda (España, 1307–1362),24​ I señora de Bembibre. Contrajo matrimonio con Fernán Rodríguez (o Ruiz) de Villalobos, señor de Villalobos (1349).24​ Fue sepultada junto con su esposo en el Monasterio de Santa Clara de Villalobos en Zamora que juntos habían fundado en 1348.24​28​ Su hijo Fernán Rodríguez de Villalobos sucedió a su padre como señor de Villalobos y murió soltero antes de 1356. En su testamento, otorgado el 13 de marzo de 1356, Inés declaró que ya era viuda y que no tenía ningún sucesor, salvo su hija Blanca: «Et porque, mal pecado, el dicho Fernán Rodríguez e sus fijos son finados e non fincó dél por la línea derecha, salvo Doña Branca, nuestra fija. Et porque, mal pecado, la dicha Doña Branca es tollida e tal que non puede aver fijos nin esperançá que los pueda aver.» En 1354 había otorgado otro testamento donde decía que su hijo Fernán tenía menos de catorce años, y ya para 1356, año en que otorgó el otro testamento, Fernán había muerto sin haber dejado ninguna descendencia, legítima o ilegítima.2

If she married in 1349 (at 42, as I marked), and died in 1362, she cannot have also died in 1339.

Then I decide a new try. Looking less at wikipedia to get less confused by conflicting indications, just take what I had in previous posts as an estimate (yes, some wikis could be wrong, but hardly most or all of them). I will however be glancing at wiki in the following and I will NOT complete it.

Before you look at it : the legal marriage age was 14 / 12, but sometimes betrothals before that were given the ritual paraphernalia of marriage and count as marriage, even if it is not so in the eyes of the Church. Obviously, a marriage concluded when the bride was 7 was not immediately consummated, they waited (this sometimes happened even when they were above legal age limit, St Bridget of Vadstena was married at 13, but the marriage was consumed when she was 14 - but that case is outside this dynasty, I think).

Ladies :

10 at unknown age.

Age

07 07 09 10 10 10 11 12 12 13 14 14 14 15 15 15 15 15 15

Number

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Age

15 15 15 15 15 15 15 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 17 17 17 17 18

Number

20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38

Age

18 18 18 18 18 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 20 20 21 22 22 23 23 24

Number

39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58

Median 16, lower quartile 15, upper quartile 19.

A shorter count with just 57 also gave same result: Median 16, lower quartile 15, upper quartile 19.

Gentlemen:

17 at unknown age

Here we start with the shorter count:

Age

11 11 14 15 16 17 19 20 20 20 20 20

Number

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12

Age

20 20 20 20 22 22 23 23 23 23 23

Number

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

Age

24 25 25 26 28 28 28 29 29 29 29 29

Number

24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35

Age

30 30 30 34 34 34 35 36 39 40 49

Number

36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46

Median 23/24, lower quartile 20, upper quartile 29. A longer count with 47 men instead gave Median 23, lower quartile 20, upper quartile 29.

I broke off counting at "In November 1384 Henry himself married Marie de Coucy, [who was 18] Countess of Soissons (1366–1405), daughter of Enguerrand VII Count of Soissons & Sire de Coucy, by his first wife Princess Isabella of England, eldest daughter of King Edward III. Marie became Dame de Coucy et de Oisy following her father's death in 1397."

I had the impression I had already counted that couple, so longer count has one man more with age 22 and one lady more with age 18. And I broke off not to get a whole series of doubles.

In case you wonder why the ladies are in total 67 or 68 and the gentlemen in total 63 or 64, some men whose first marriage only counts once were first or only bridegroom for more than one lady.

Hans Georg Lundahl
Nanterre UL
Ember Friday of Pentecost
25.V.2018