Abstract
The Western Pyrenees are made up of isolated valleys that were associated until recently with low marriage mobility. We chose to study the Ossau Valley (Béarn, France), which has one of the least mobile populations in this area. Marriage patterns in the village of Béost were analyzed over the 1800-1899 period. Data on 238 marriages obtained from parish, civil and notarial registers were used to assess the following variables: seasonality, endogamy rate, isonymic marriages and the consanguinity coefficient calculated from isonymy and from ecclesiastical dispensations. A clear seasonal marriage pattern emerged, linked to religious and local social parameters. Levels of endogamy were 57.5% in the village and 92.4% in the valley as a whole. The consanguinity coefficients calculated from isonymy (Ft) and ecclesiastical dispensations (α) were 0.0031 and 0.0040 respectively. The negative non-random component of F (Fn) indicated that Béost residents avoided contracting potentially consanguine isonymic marriages. These biodemographic markers were compared to those observed among various other 19th century mountain populations in Western Europe.
Résumé
Les Pyrénées de l’ouest sont composées de vallées isolées qui ont été associées jusqu’à récemment à une mobilité matrimoniale réduite. Nous avons choisi d’étudier la vallée d’Ossau (Béarn, France), l’une des populations les plus « fermées » de cette zone. Les comportements matrimoniaux ont été analysés dans le village de Béost entre 1800 et 1899. Les données concernant 238 mariages obtenues à partir de registres paroissiaux, d’état civil et notariés, ont été utilisées pour évaluer les variables suivantes : répartition mensuelle des mariages, taux d’endogamie, proportion d’unions isonymes, et coefficient de consanguinité (à partir des taux d’isonymie et de dispenses ecclésiastiques pour apparentement). Nous avons noté une saisonnalité des mariages en relation avec des paramètres religieux et sociaux locaux. Les taux d’endogamie étaient respectivement de 57,5 % pour le village et de 92,4 % pour la vallée. Les coefficients de consanguinité ont été estimés à 0,0031 à partir du taux d’isonymie (Ft) et à 0,0040 selon le taux de dispenses ecclésiastiques pour apparentement (α). La valeur négative du taux de consanguinité non lié au hasard (Fn) indique que les habitants de Béost évitaient les unions isonymes susceptibles d’être consanguines. Ces paramètres matrimoniaux ont été comparés avec ceux décrits dans d’autres populations de vallées de montagne d’Europe occidentale au 19e siècle.
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This paper was presented in part at the annual meeting of the Société d’Anthropologie de Paris, Bordeaux, 25–27 January 2012
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Dugène, J.P., Bauduer, F. Marriage patterns in the Western French Pyrenees during the 1800–1899 period: data from the village of Béost (Ossau Valley, Béarn). Bull. Mém. Soc. Anthropol. 25, 118–126 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13219-012-0075-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13219-012-0075-1