ABSTRACT
Inger Dübeck In late medieval and early modern Denmark, the economy was predominantly agrarian. From the sixteenth century, however, an urban economy developed based not only upon local trade and crafts, but also upon trade with the north Atlantic dominions and with small Danish colonies in India (1616-1845), Africa (1660-1849) and the West Indies (1702-1917). The mining industry in Norway, part of the Realm since the fourteenth century, became very important for the development of pre-industrial production. This was the setting of each marital economy, whether rural or urban, and it influenced the sorts of property arrangements that spouses would choose.
