Historically, child marriage was common around the world, the average life expectancy did not exceed 50 years old, so child marriage was considered an effective practice to increase population.[23] The practice began to be questioned in the 20th century, with the age of individuals' first marriage increasing in many countries and most countries increasing the minimum marriage age.
In ancient and medieval societies it was common for girls to be betrothed at or even before puberty.[24][25] As Friedman claims, "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.[26] In the Middle Ages the age at marriage seems to have been around puberty throughout the Jewish world.[27]
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.”[28]
In Ancient Greece, early marriage and motherhood for girls was encouraged.[29] Even boys were expected to marry in their teens. Early marriages and teenage motherhood was typical. In Ancient Rome, girls married above the age of 12 and boys above 14.[30] 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.[31][32]
Religion
Most religions, over history, influenced the marriageable age. For example, Christian ecclesiastical law forbade marriage of a girl before the age of puberty.[33] Hindu vedic scriptures mandated the age of a girl's marriage to be adulthood which they defined as three years after the onset of puberty.[34]
Jewish scholars and rabbis strongly discouraged marriages before the onset of puberty,[26] but at the same time, in exceptional cases, girls ages 3 through 12 (the legal age of consent according to halakha) might be given in marriage by her father.[35][36] By Judaism, the minimal girl age, for marriage, was 12 years and one day, "na'arah", as metioned in the ancient Talmud Mishnah books,(copiled between 536 BCE – 70 CE, redacted in the 3rd century CE), Order Nashim Masechet Kiddushin 41 a & b. [37]
According to Halakha girls should not marry until they are 12 years and six months old, "bogeret" [38] [39]. Although Moses Maimonides mentions in Talmud Mishneh Torah (compiled between 1170 and 1180 CE) that in exceptional cases, girls ages three through 12, might be given in marriage by her father,[40][41], he also clarifies, in the same chapter, in verse 3:19 that: "Although a father has the option of consecrating his daughter to anyone he desires while she is a minor or while she is a maiden, it is not proper for him to act in this manner".[42]
Some apocryphal accounts[which?][according to whom?] state that at the time of her betrothal to Joseph, Mary, the mother of Jesus, was 12–14 years old, but such accounts are unreliable.[43][third-party source needed]
Historically within the Catholic Church, prior to the 1917 Code of Canon Law, the minimum age for a dissoluble betrothal (sponsalia de futuro) was 7 years in the contractees. The minimum age for a valid marriage was puberty, or nominally 14 for males and 12 for females.[44] The 1917 Code of Canon Law raised the minimum age for a valid marriage at 16 for males and 14 for females.[45] The 1983 Code of Canon Law maintained the minimum age for a valid marriage at 16 for males and 14 for females.[46](c. 1083 §1)[a]
Some Islamic marriage practices have permitted marriage of girls below the age of 10, because Shariat law is based in part on the life and practices of Muhammad, the Prophet, as described in part in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim. Muhammad married Aisha, his third wife, when she was about age six,[48] and consummated the marriage when she was about age nine.[49][50] Some mainstream Islamic scholars have suggested that it is not the chronological age that matters; marriageable age under Muslim religious law is the age when the guardians of the girl feel she has reached sexual maturity. Such determination of sexual maturity is a matter of subjective judgment, and there is a strong belief among most Muslims and scholars, based on Sharia, that marrying a girl less than 13 years old is an acceptable practice for Muslims.[51][52]
