Before the industrial revolution, in many parts of the world, including India, China and Eastern Europe, women tended to marry immediately after reaching puberty, in their mid-teens. Societies where most of the population lived in small agricultural communities were characterized by these marriage practices well into the 19th century.[26] Men tended to marry later in societies where a married couple was expected to establish a household of their own. That usually meant that men remained unmarried until they accumulated sufficient wealth to support a new home, and were married in their mature age to adolescent girls, who contributed a dowry to the family finances.[27]
In ancient and medieval societies it was common for girls to be betrothed at, or even before, puberty.[28][29] According to M.A. Friedman, "arranging and contracting the marriage of a young girl were the undisputed prerogatives of her father in ancient Israel." Most girls were married before the age of 15, often at the start of their puberty.[30]In the Middle Ages the age at marriage seems to have been around puberty throughout the Jewish world.[31]
Ruth Lamdan writes: "The numerous references to child marriage in the 16th-century Responsa literature and other sources, shows that child marriage was so common, it was virtually the norm. In this context, it is important to remember that in halakha, the term "minor" refers to a girl under twelve years and a day. A girl aged twelve and a half was already considered an adult in all respects."[32]
In Ancient Greece, early marriage and motherhood for girls was encouraged.[33] Even boys were expected to marry in their teens. Early marriages and teenage motherhood were typical. In Ancient Rome, girls married above the age of 12 and boys above 14.[34] In the Middle Ages, under English civil laws that were derived from Roman laws, marriages before the age of 16 were common. In Imperial China, child marriage was the norm.[35][36]
In contrast to other pre-modern societies, and for reasons that are subject to debate, Northwest Europe was characterized by relatively late marriages for both men and women, with both sexes commonly delaying marriage until their mid-20s or even 30s.[27][26] The data available for England suggest that it was already the case in the 14th century. This pattern was reflected in English common law, which was the first in Europe to establish statutory rape laws and ages of consent for marriage. In 1275 sexual relations with girls under either 12 or 14 (depending on interpretation of the sources) were criminalized; the age was reduced to 10 in 1576. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries the British colonial administration introduced marriage age restrictions for Hindu and Muslim girls on the Indian subcontinent.[26]
A Scottish physician living in 18th century Syria reported that locals tried to contract marriages for their children at a young age, but the marriage was not consummated until the girl "had come of age". Evidence from 19th century Palestine suggests that husbands sometimes initiated sexual relations before their wife reached puberty, but that it was a rare occurrence, condemned socially and censured by sharia courts. Writing in 1830s, Edward William Lane observed that few Egyptian girls remained single by the age of 16, but socio-economic transformation, educational reforms and influence of Western norms brought significant changes, and by 1920 fewer than 10% of Egyptian women married before the age of 20. In 1923, Egypt's parliament set the minimum age of marriage at 16 for women and 18 for men.[37]
