His family was wealthy. Maybe not as wealthy as some, but wealthy.
Family influence? Other than the social and church norms, who knows?
We today in this country cannot imagine the class and religious
pressures that existed in those days. Almost thrown in the Tower for
marrying above his station? That sort of proves my point, doesn't it?
People then were not free to do whatever they wanted, and even though
they may have done so, on occasion, it was not without serious
consequences. Even wages for laborers were set by the king. I'm not
sure what your point is in your posts. That Rolfe was at complete
liberty to marry whomever he pleased, and he and Rebecca had a lovely
little native ceremony in one of Powhatan's villages?
BTW they have determined that about 40% of the early English male
settlers married native women. So on this side of the pond, what
Rolfe did was not so shocking, and might even have been precedent-
setting, easing the way for other Englishmen who wanted to do the
same. The several examples I have run across were all native girls
who had been Christianized, though.
Nancy
-------
I was never lost, but I was bewildered once for three days.
--Daniel Boone
On Feb 28, 2007, at 2:07 AM, Emily Rose wrote:
> Let's be precise.
> Rolfe was simply a gentleman, [not "a wealthy class of gentlemen"]
> and according to Beverly he married up not down.
> BTW is there any evidence of family influence in any of his three
> documented marriages?
>
>> probably under >ordinary circumstances he never would have been
>> allowed to marry outside his class. But since Rebecca was a
>> 'princess', that may have made a difference.
>
> Philip Barbour, 1971 p. 162: "another tradition, apparently started
> in 1703 in Robert Beverly's History, says that King James was on
> the verge of throwing John Rolfe in the Tower for marrying a royal
> princess without first obtaining his permission.
>
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