6 - Marriage settlements in perspective: the social and economic aspects

Summary

In previous chapters the origins, judicial acceptance and dissemination of the strict settlement have been considered. Although the primary focus has been upon developments in the land law and its relationship to conveyancing practice, some inferences have been made concerning other matters, such as the nature of the legal profession and its receptivity to innovations in the mechanics of settlements. But interest in the evolution of marriage settlements is not confined to matters of legal mechanics; nor is the device solely the province of the legal historian. During the later Middle Ages, the marriage settlement became a complex instrument dealing with intergenerational wealth transmission in the landed classes. The substance of marriage settlements is therefore of interest to economic historians. But so too are the legal developments which have been considered, because they were bound to have had an effect upon landownership. Since they also dealt with wealth distribution within the family, the dispositions directed by marriage settlements are of concern to the social historian, family historian and historical sociologist. This chapter will deal with the socio-economic aspects of marriage settlements in the particular, and will also consider the speculations of historians regarding the motives which prompted conveyancers to devise a stricter form of settlement.

Some review of the historiography is in order, and it is appropriate to begin with the present assessment of the impact of the strict settlement upon landownership.