This volume explores the meaning and importance of marriage in Northern Europe, looking at differences and similarities within and between Scandinavia and the british Isles. The point of departure is the concept of 'marital economy'. It is used to denote the economic partnership of husband and wife, which was the basis of all economic activities in the medieval and early modern period. The book employs a life-course approach, discussing in 13 different empirical studies (1) creating the partnership, (2) managing the partnership, and (3) dissolving the partnership. The studies discuss courtship, servants' work, elite strategies, retirement, inheritance, wills, marital disputes, decision-making, divorce, separation, and various forms of property arrangements. The introduction emphasises the martial economy as a key to understanding pre-modern economic life, and the conclusion discusses the reasons why this key has been lost to modern conceptions of economy.