ABSTRACT
Migration-defined simply as departure from village or town of birth-historically has been a routine part of European life, embedded in patterns of family formation and inheritance. Because exogamous marriage has been the norm, marriage partners often have been from different villages, hamlets, or parishes, and brides have usually moved at marriage. Systems of impartible inheritance have determined that while one or two children were able to remain in their home, the others moved to other plots of land, neighboring villages, or nearby towns, if not farther from home.
