Exchange marriages between sibsets: A sibling connection beyond marriage, Québec 1660-1760

The aim of this paper is to explore transitions into marriage in the context of family during the 17th and 18th century in Québec. More precisely, we are interested in the occurrence of exchange marriages between sibsets. These marriages occur when two siblings from one family marry two siblings from another family. When two brothers marry two sisters, a parallel exchange marriage takes place, and when a brother and sister marry a brother and sister, a crossed exchange marriage occurs. Most research addressing this subject are qualitative and/or restricted to a community. For our study, we will explore this phenomenon at the national level of Québec, taking advantage of a quantitative life course approach. Which factors influence the hazard of being involved in an parallel or crossed exchange marriage? Are they individual characteristics, family dynamics and composition, or contextual factors? To explore these questions, we draw upon the Registre de la population du Québec ancien (RPQA). This longitudinal database is based on parish registers linked with the family reconstitution methods, providing the opportunity to trace the life course paths of thousands of individuals. To describe the importance and the distribution of marriage exchange, constant and time-varying covariates are constructed, such as sibset size.