Shefali O'Hara
May 14, 2023

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Muhammad married Aisha when she was only 9 I think. That's a bit beyond even the examples you cite.

In medieval and early modern Europe, aside from the nobility, women married later. In Germany for example the average age for a middle class woman to be married was in her early 20s, to a man about 2-3 years older. This is based on carefully kept records from the period.

The reason noble women were married so young - they were often pawns in political matches and there was an imperative for them to bear many children. That is also one reason they hired other women to nurse their babies - so they could more quickly get pregnant again. Among ordinary women, they nursed their own babies and had less of them.

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Shefali O'Hara
Shefali O'Hara

Written by Shefali O'Hara

Cancer survivor, Christian, writer, engineer. BSEE from MIT, MSEE, and MA in history. Love nature, animals, books, art, and interesting discussions.

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