Our findings in the previous chapter are in line with the predictions made earlier. Marriage restriction was still very active in 19th century Nijmegen, while the opposite was true in colonial Lugang. As a consequence, Nijmegen was populated by a large number of men and women who were not or not yet married. They thus constituted a potential source for illegitimacy and bridal pregnancy. Given the early age at marriage in Lugang, especially for women, the probability of being pregnant atmarriage here seems relatively small.We will analyze the extramarital sexual activity in both cities by looking at bridal pregnancy and illegitimate births. As mentioned before, this not only informs us of patterns of sexual behavior and cultural norms about this topic, in the European case it is a necessary complement to our knowledge of marriage restriction. Every activity possibly resulting in extramarital births constituted a breach with the ultimate goal of this restriction.

What do we expect to find? In a straightforward argument for pre-contracepting societies, extramarital sexuality is expected to increase in periods when restrictive measures prohibit more marriages, and vice versa. On the aggregative level of the city, the result would logically be that the curve of the marriage rate and the curve of extramarital sexual activity would be in the opposite direction. Reality proves to be more complicated. In England, for instance, Wrigley found that changes in marital, extramarital and pre-bridal fertility moved parallel to each other. Obviously, the forces regulating access to marriage also controlled the access to extramarital sexuality. This is not a general European feature, however. In other countries the expected reverse development was found, indicating that whenever more young people were longer barred from licit sexual activities, they protested by a deviating from the general rules. As for Lugang, the major marriage pattern as such does not generate expectations of bridal pregnancy and illegitimacy. We do expect differences, however, between the forms of marriage. Especially in the case of minor marriages there is a higher probability of prenuptial conception since the future bride and groom lived under the same roof, whereas partners in a major marriage only met shortly before or at the wedding.