La pratique de I'isonymie matrimoniale dans les opulations anciennes du sud-est de la France (1546-1899)

Abstract

Matrimonial isonomy is a term indicating that partners in a given marriage have the same family names. As a method for evaluating lineage, it has been employed more frequently in biological anthropology than in other disciplines. This study, on the other hand, places both geographical determinants and the cultural practice, whether deliberate or not, among couples having the same family name, in perspective. More than 264,000 unions have been taken into account between 1546 and 1899. In a first instance, isonomy is distributed fairly uniformly among rural, mountain and town sites. But a further division by department indicates noteworthy differentiation in which a stratification emerges lasting until the middle of the 20th century. An isonomy gradient increases in tandem with that of altitude, as it does with the size of lang holdings. As for the communal population, one notes growth matching a limit of 3,000 persons. Only the large agglomerations display rupture with the past. It should be noted, however, that the statistical links between isonomy and geography are weak to middling. In the final analysis, isonomy, althouth in use fairly recently, in fact apperas to be a cultural habit of traditional European marriages. © Editions de I'EHESS.