The 17th century was a fascinating period in English history and has always attracted much attention from historians around the world. During this time men had all the power over their women and had all the laws on their side of marriage. During the 17th century marriages were slowly slipping away from a time when many marriages were arranged by parents and people were starting to be able to choose their own partner. This article will provide an outline of seventeenth-century English marriage. Things like core marital values, ending marriages, the duties of a married woman, and even the possibilities of divorce were very different then than they are today. In seventeenth-century England, being married played a much more important social role than it does today. . The position of women in seventeenth-century English marriage was dictated by its family relationships, with an emphasis on women's inferiority. The law was strongly in favor of women's fathers and husbands. It was a fact that married women had no financial rights that made them independent of their husband and that everything that belonged to her was hers. Men also had a violent blow on their wives during this time period without any consequences and unfortunately it was a common occurrence in marriage. The dominion or "rule" of a husband over his wife and children was practically seen as the reign of a king over the people of his country. A woman was considered a physically, intellectually, morally, and even spiritually inferior creature to a man, which gave the man the right to dominate her.1 So this led to men being able to control their wife like nothing we have ever seen in modern times. . Women served men hand and foot in a soci...... middle of paper ......te. While marriages in seventeenth century England had similarities to the present day, such as people marrying for love, it was also very different than it is in today's world. Back then marriages weren't just for love, they were for social status and had to make a statement to society. All the women wanted to prove that they could give birth to a child and the men wanted the power to be the head of the family. While weddings were still being arranged, some people started living their love lives without the blessings of their families and went with their hearts as is done nowadays. Even though marriage was nowhere near as equal as it is today for the men and women involved, one thing was certain, and that was the fact that people still wanted to be together and that hasn't changed in the last three thousand years.