This is a list of child brides, women of historical significance who married under 18 years of age.
East & South Asia
8th century Asukabe-hime (aged 16) was married to the future Emperor Shōmu (aged about 16) in .
9th century Princess Seishi (aged 16/17) was married to the future Emperor Junna (aged about 41) in 827.
10th century Fujiwara no Teishi (about 12/13) was married to the future Emperor Ichijō (aged 10) in October 990.
12th century Princess Yoshiko (aged 17) was married to her nephew, the future Emperor Nijō (aged 15), in March 1159.
16th century Ruqaiya Sultan Begum married Akbar, her first paternal cousin, at the time of his first appointment, at the age of nine, in 1551. Akbar's marriage with Ruqaiya was solemnised near Jalandhar, Punjab, when both of them were 14 years old.
17th century Tokugawa Masako (aged 12/13) was married to the future Emperor Go-Mizunoo (aged 23/24) in 1620. Tamahime (aged 3) was married to Maeda Toshitsune (aged about 7) in 1601. Senhime (aged 7) was married to Toyotomi Hideyori (aged 10) in 1603. Some of the spouses of the Kangxi Emperor, which included: Empress Xiaochengren (aged 11) who was married to the emperor (aged 11) in 1665. Empress Xiaozhaoren (aged about 12) was married to the emperor (aged about 11) in 1665. Some of the spouses of the Yongzheng Emperor, which included: Empress Xiaojingxian (aged 9/10) who was married to the emperor (aged 12/13) in 1691. Empress Xiaoshengxian (aged 13) who was married to the emperor (aged about 26) in 1705.
18th century Empress Xiaoxianchun (aged 15) was married to the future Qianlong Emperor (aged 15) in 1727. Some of the spouses of the Jiaqing Emperor, which included: Empress Xiaoshurui (aged 13) who was married to the future emperor (aged 13) in 1774. Empress Xiaoherui (aged 13/14) who was married to the emperor (aged 29/30) in 1790. Princess Thongsuk of Vientiane (aged 14) who was married to the King Rama I (aged 60) in 1798.
19th century Khair-un-Nissa (aged 14), a Hyderabadi Sayyida noblewoman married James Achilles Kirkpatrick (aged 35/36), an officer of the East India Company in 1800. Some of the spouses of the Daoguang Emperor, which included: Empress Xiaomucheng (aged 14/15) who was married to the future emperor (aged 14) in 1796. Empress Xiaoshencheng (aged 16) who was married to the future emperor (aged 26) in 1809. Empress Xiaoquancheng (aged 12/13) who was married to the emperor (aged 38/39) in 1821. Empress Xiaojingcheng (aged 12/13) who was married to the emperor (aged 42/43) in 1825. Some of the spouses of the Xianfeng Emperor, which included: Empress Xiaodexian (aged 15/16) who was married to the future emperor (aged 15/16) in 1847. Empress Xiaozhenxian (aged 14/15) who was married to the emperor (aged 20/21) in 1852. Empress Cixi (aged 16) who was married to the emperor (aged 20) in 1852. Some of the spouses of the King Rama IV, which included: Queen Somanass Waddhanawathy (aged 17) who was married to the king (aged 47) in 1852. Princess Phannarai (aged 15) who was married to the king (aged 48) in 1853. Chikako, Princess Kazu (aged 15), daughter of Emperor Ninkō, was married to Tokugawa Iemochi (aged 15) in February 1862. Anandibai Joshi (aged 9) was married to Gopalrao Joshi (aged 27/28) in 1874. Rukhmabai (age 11) was married in India to Dadaji Bhikaji (age 19), a cousin of her stepfather, in about 1875. After a lengthy court battle, the marriage was dissolved by an order from Queen Victoria and the publicity helped influence the passage of the Age of Consent Act, 1891, which increased age of consent for girls in India, married or unmarried, from 10 to 12. Some of the spouses of the King Rama V, which included: Queen Sunanda Kumariratana (aged 16) who was married to the king (aged 22) in 1876. Queen Savang Vadhana (aged 15) who was married to the king (aged 24) in 1878. Queen Saovabha Phongsri (aged 14) who was married to the king (aged 24) in 1878. Mrinalini Devi (aged between 9 and 11) was married to Rabindranath Tagore (aged 22) in 1883. Kasturba Gandhi (aged 14) was married to Mahatma Gandhi (aged 13) in May 1883.
20th century Sadako Kujō (aged 15) married Crown Prince Yoshihito of Japan (aged 20) in May 1900. Kaoru Otsuki (aged 15) married Sun Yat-sen (aged 37) in July 1905. Ramabai Bhimrao Ambedkar (aged 8) married B. R. Ambedkar (aged 15) in 1906. Shigeko, Princess Teru (aged 17), eldest daughter of Emperor Hirohito of Japan, was married to Morihiro Higashikuni (aged 27) in October 1943. Janakiammal Iyengar (age 10) was married to the Indian mathematician Srinivasa RamanujanRamanujan’s wife: Janakiammal (Janaki). Profile at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc) in 1909. Some of the spouses of Puyi, which included: Wanrong (aged 16) who was married to Puyi (aged 16) in 1912. Wenxiu (aged 12) who was married to Puyi (aged 16) in 1912. Tan Yuling (aged 16) who was married to Puyi (aged 31) in 1937. Li Yuqin (aged about 14/15) who was married to Puyi (aged 36/37) in 1943. Ushabati Ghosh (age 11) was married to the Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose (aged 20) in 1914. Bose, not keen on marriage so early in life and while still attending college, only did so at his mother's insistence. They had nine children, two of whom died in early childhood. Liu Chi-chun (aged 16) was married to Yen Chia-kan (aged 19) in 1924. Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib (aged 8) was married to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (aged 18) in 1938. Gangubai Kothewali (aged 16) married her suitor, Ramnik Lal (aged 27) in Bombay after eloping from Kathiawad, Gujarat in 1955. Days after her marriage, Gangubai was sold by Ramnik for Rs. 500 to a brothel in Kamathipura where she became a prostitute and later a brothel madame. Rowshan Ershad (aged 13) was married to Hussain Muhammad Ershad (aged 26) in 1956. Khaleda Zia (aged 15) was married to Ziaur Rahman (aged 24) in 1960. Dimple Kapadia (aged 15) was married to Rajesh Khanna (aged 30) in March 1973. Sharbat Gula (aged 13) was married to Rahmat Gul (age unknown) in .
Europe From 380 A.D. to 1917 A.D. the minimum marriageable age was 12 years for females and 14 years for males in the Roman Catholic Church, which was adopted into canon law from Roman law.
During the Holy Roman Empire (9th–19th centuries), the minimum marriageable age was 12 years for females and 14 years for males. There were some fathers who arranged marriages for a son or a daughter before he or she reached the age of maturity. Consummation would not take place until the age of maturity. Roman Catholic canon law defines a marriage as consummated when the "spouses have performed between themselves in a human fashion a conjugal act which is suitable in itself for the procreation of offspring, to which marriage is ordered by its nature and by which the spouses become one flesh."canon 1061 §1
In England and Wales, the Marriage Act 1753 required a marriage to be covered by a license (requiring parental consent for those under 12) or the publication of banns (which parents of those under 12 could forbid). The Church of England dictated that both the bride and groom must be at least 12 years of age to marry without the consent of their families; in the certificates, the most common age for the brides is 12 years. For the grooms 14 years was the most common age, with average ages of 14 years for the brides and 17 for the grooms.Laslett, Peter. 1965. The World We Have Lost. New York, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p 82 While European noblewomen often married early, they were a small minority of the population,Coontz, Stephanie. 2005. Marriage, a History: From Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage. New York, New York: Viking Press, Penguin Group Inc. p 125-129. and the marriage certificates from Canterbury show that, in England, even among nobility it was very rare to marry women off at very early ages.
In England, the minimum marriageable age was raised to 16 in 1929. In 1971, the age of majority was raised to 18 years old.
8th century
Hildegard (aged about 13/14) was married to Charlemagne in 772.
9th century
Æthelswith (aged about 14/15) was married to Burgred of Mercia in 853. Judith of Flanders (aged about 12/13) was married to Æthelwulf, King of Wessex (aged about 61), in October 856. After Æthelwulf's death in January 858, Judith (now about 14/15) was remarried later that year to the new king, her stepson Æthelbald. Her second husband died in 860, and she was married to Margrave Baldwin I of Flanders, in either 861 or 862, when she was around 17–19 years old. Beatrice of Vermandois (aged about 10) was married to Robert, Margrave of Neustria (aged about 24; later King of West Francia), in
10th century
Gisela of France (aged about 5) was married to the much older Rollo in 911. Eadgifu of Wessex (aged 16/17) was married to Charles the Simple, King of West Francia (aged about 40), in 919. Bertha of Swabia (aged about 15) was married to Rudolph II of Burgundy (aged about 42) in 922. Adelaide of Italy (aged about 15) was married to Lothair II of Italy (aged 19–20) in 947. Liutgard of Saxony (aged 14/15) was married to Conrad, Duke of Lorraine (aged about 25), in 947. Adelaide-Blanche of Anjou (aged about 15) was married to the much older Stephen, Viscount of Gévaudan, in circa 955. Emma of Italy (aged about 17) was married to Lothair of France (aged 23/24) in 965. Theophanu (aged about 17) was married to the future Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor (aged 16/17), in 972. Gerberga of Burgundy was about 12/13 when she was married to Herman I, Count of Werl, in circa 978. Gisela of Hungary (aged about 11) was married to Stephen I of Hungary (aged about 21) in 996.
11th century Hedwig of France (aged about 13) was married to Renauld I, Count of Nevers, in 1016. Adela of Normandy married the future Stephen, Count of Blois (aged around 35–38), between 1080 and 1083, around the time of her 15th birthday. Gisela of Burgundy (aged 14/15) was married to Humbert II, Count of Savoy (aged 24/25), in 1090. Constance of France (aged between about 15 and 17) was married to Hugh I, Count of Troyes (aged between about 19 and 21), between 1093 and 1095.
12th century Cecile of France (aged 8/9) was married to Prince Tancred of Galilee (aged 30/31), in late 1106. As he was dying in 1112, Tancred made Pons, Count of Tripoli, promise to marry her; Pons and Cecile were married later that year, when she was 14/15 and he was 13/14. Sybilla of Normandy (aged about 15) was married to Alexander I of Scotland (aged about 29) circa 1107. Matilda of England (aged about 12), daughter of Henry I of England, was married to Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (aged about 28), in 1114. They had been officially betrothed four years prior, in 1110, when Matilda was just eight; and a few months following the betrothal, Matilda was crowned Queen of the Romans. Matilda of Anjou (aged about 13) was married to William Adelin (aged 15), son and heir of Henry I of England in 1119. Sibylla of Anjou (aged about 11) was married to William Clito (aged 20/21) in 1123. The marriage was annulled the following year on the grounds of consanguinity. Eleanor of Aquitaine was about 15 when she married Louis VII of France (aged 17) in 1137; their marriage was annulled in 1152. She went on to marry Henry II of England that same year. Petronilla of Aquitaine (aged about 15) was married to Count Ralph I of Vermandois, in 1140. Constance of France (aged about 15/16) was married to Count Eustace IV of Boulogne (aged about 12/13), in 1140. Agnes of Courtenay was no more than 15-years-old when she was married to Reynald of Marash, sometime before 29 June 1149. Sancha of Castile (aged about 14) was married to Sancho VI of Navarre (aged 21) in 1153. Constance of Castile (born between 1136 and 1140) was at most 18-years-old when she married Louis VII of France (33/34) in 1154.