This article focuses on the laws of 1827 regulating settlement and marriage in the Kingdom of Hannover, with particular reference to the province of Osnabruck, in order to explore the rural social order and the situation of rural autonomy during the period of Vormarz. In the rural areas of the province, the lower classes, especially landless cottagers (Heuerlinge), formed the majority of the population during the period, but their economic base gradually decreased. It was against this background that the legislation of 1827 introduced a regulatory system. This required those landless people who wished to marry or settle in an area to obtain the consent of the village communities, whose members were landholders (Hofbesitzer), and the final permission of the state. The village communities often refused to give landless people their consent, imposing severe and even illegal requirements, in order to restrict an increase in the number of poor people. On the other hand, the state prevented the communities from exercising excessive restraints, although its legal criteria for permission were inadequate. For their part, the communities were unable to limit the renting of cottages and land by their members. This situation often enabled landless people to form households, albeit poor ones. Consequently, village communities did not have complete control over the lower classes.
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