What was the common age for marriage in the Middle Ages?

Answer14 was the common age for marriage during the middle ages. AnswerA common age for marriage in the times for which we have records was about 25.

The common wisdom of today is that marriages of that time were done at a very young age. I have spent a good deal of time trying to find out the truth on this issue, and aside from the marriages of members of royalty and the high nobility, I was unable to find anything that agreed with the idea of early marriage being normal for ordinary people.

Members of royal families were often betrothed as part of arranged marriages at a very early age. This was not done too early, because the death of a child was a common occurrence, and would require a new diplomatic effort. So a common minimum age to negotiate a marriage might have been six or eight, but the marriage would take place much later, as it was pointless to marry before the age of 14 to 16.

The Church was not happy about arranged marriages and took positions against them from time to time. Religious leaders were also surprisingly open to the idea that such a marriage be easily annulled if either partner wanted out.

But ordinary marriages were another matter as 80% to 90% of the laity were people with no property and little in the way of aspirations. These people's marriages were based on common attraction in most of the peasant cultures of Europe. They were not normally done in church, during the Middle Ages, and required neither a priest nor a witness. A marriage consisted of a man and a woman declaring marriage to each other and consummating it. In some places, they had the option of registering the marriage in the local church. And from the parish records, we have an average age of about 25.

There is a good deal of sense in this. Before a marriage, a young man had to prove he could provide a living for a family, and a young woman had to collect a dowry, small as it might be, to start family life on.

Please go to the link below for more information.