Remarriage (Matrimony) was very common in early modern Europe. A major reason was the high rate of mortality, which frequently confronted married women and men with the loss of their marriage partner, forcing them to decide whether to spend the rest of their lives as widows or widowers (Widow[er]) or to enter into wedlock once more. This decision was influenced by economic, social, and cultural factors, and not least by gender, and was accordingly complex. At the same time, though, we can identify relatively constant structures and functions of remarriage [4].

One important functi…