what was family and marriage like during the reign of Queen Elizabeth?

Family was a very close knit unit most of the time, with secrets kept inside and all that. At court, the families would plot together how to raise in the favour of the Queen. Marriage was usually arranged for young people for them by their parents if they were wealthy, if not it was usually a love match. The male was the dominant force in the relationship, and when married the women would give everything she had to her husband. Children of court people were usually almost never raised by their parents, and so didn't really make a lasting bond. Basically, the commoners were very much like we are now, and the higher people were a lot like Victorians in what they thought.

Marriage was considered a serious matter. Among people of property, the upper classes and wealthy merchant class, marriages were often arranged between families, and children might be bethrothed when they were very young. It was generally accepted that a father's first duty to his daughter was to provide her with a suitable husband, and many child bethrothals or espousals were arranged as insurance against an uncertain future.

The initail form of contract, known as de futuro, as the promises were made in the future tense, was not necessarily binding. The engagement could be terminated by mutual consent, much like a modern engagement. if all went well and the financial arrangements, dowry and marriage settlement had all been agreed on, the next stage would be the de praesenti betrothal, with the vows exchange din the present tense.

A betrothal in verbis de praesenti was binding and indisoluble, and any attempt to marry someone else after entering into a de paresenti contract was illegal. Even after marriage had been completed and blessed by the church, it could still be invalidated if evidence of a previous de praesenti betrothal were produced.

Although the great majority of marriages among the propertied classes were arranged, the Church insisted on the 'full and free consent' of both parties as an essential pre-condition for entering into the holy state of matrimony. It was generally accepted that there should be 'liking' and a reasonable amount of compatability between an engaged couple.

There were love matches too of course. No one had any objection to love providing the price was right, and many youthful romances flourished with parental approval.

Children of the prosperous classes might marry young, in their early teens. Among the common people, the mid-twenties was a more usual age, as young people of both sexes would normally work until they were in a position to set up house together.

Once married, the man was assumed to be the head of the household, and the wife was supposed to be obedient and submissive to him. The husband in turn was expected to be a good head of the household, treating his wife, children, and servants with kindness and consideration. Children were expected to be obedient and respectful to their parents, and a strict upbringing for children was considered desirable, though then as now different parents treated their children differently too.

Look about you.

Queen Elizabeth has been reigning for about 65 years???

A royal nightmare of twists-n-turns, nightmares, and dark secrets trapped amongst the stone castle walls~much like today!