History Main / OldManMarryingAChild

* Lucy Steel ne Pendleton (aged 14) and Stephen Steel (age 51) are married in ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureSteelBallRun'', but it turns out that [[spoiler:it's really an IntergenerationalFriendship. Stephen promised that he would never lay a hand on her, and he always intended for her to marry a nice young man her own age.]]

** Jon Arryn and Lysa Tully are also an example, with the former even using their [[AwfulWeddedLife unhappy marriage]] as a reason for why Robert should not betroth himself to Sansa. Even people who find Lysa unpleasant to deal with (at best) admit to feeling at least some small amount of sympathy for her for getting married off like a broodmare to a man old enough to be her grandfather in order to [[AltarDiplomacy secure a political alliance]]. Though Lysa at least was in her late teens when she got married to Lord Arryn, and thanks to ForWantOfANail courtesy of Varys, they are making a ''somewhat'' more honest go of things, even having a new daughter together.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', which is happy to portray [[DeliberateValuesDissonance just how weird medieval times were]], does a bit of this.

** Sorry. Mohammad died when he was 63. He was married (solely) to his first wife Khadijah from the age of 25 until her death when he was 50. This is a completely false narrative, as is Aisha's age when they marriage was consummated. [[{{Hypocrite}} Naturally, the sad, gross fact that some select Christian communities have and still do such things themselves is ignored.]]

*** Sorry. Mohammad died when he was 63. He was married (solely) to his first wife Khadijah from the age of 25 until her death when he was 50. This is a completely false narrative, as is Aisha's age when they marriage was consummated. There was a significant age difference, but this is of course used to discredit him (and only in the last century or so - no one ever levelled any accusation of impropriety during his life, when it might have mattered.)

** Sorry. Mohammad died when he was 63. He was married (solely) to his first wife Khadijah from the age of 25 until her death when he was 50. This is a completely false narrative, as is Aisha's age when they marriage was consummated.

* In one ''ComicBook/ChickTract'' called [[http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/1054/1054_01.asp "The Little Bride"]], the marriage between Aisha and Muhammed is used to condemn Islam, highlighting that she was only 6 when they got engaged and only 9 when they got married. The tract draws the conclusion that Muhammed was a pedophile rapist. [[{{Hypocrite}} Naturally, the sad, gross fact that some select Christian communities have and still do such things themselves is ignored.]]

* Nearly happens to poor Violet as part of Count Olaf's first plot to steal her family fortune in ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents''.

** Played with in the case of Arianne Martell, who while still unmarried at the time we meet her, has been proposed as a potential bride for a number of men, all of whom are old enough to be her grandfather. She's informed her father that [[ChildMarriageVeto if he wants her to actually marry]], he's going to have to find her a husband young enough to still have his own teeth. [[spoiler: As it happens, he doesn't want her to marry just yet--but can't tell her why--and is suggesting old men precisely because he knows she'll refuse them.]]

* And when she was betrothed to Joseph, an older carpenter, Mary, the mother of Jesus, is likely to have been not much older than twelve or thirteen. How old Joseph was at the time is a matter of debate (those who believe both that the Virgin Mary ''never'' lost her virginity and that the mentioned brothers of Jesus were literally his (half) brothers tend to in turn believe that Joseph was a widower old enough to have adult children).

* ''Fanfic/BequeathedFromPaleEstates'' being in Westeros, of course it's referenced:
** This is explicitly one of the reasons why Jon Arryn marrying Lysa Tully was such a disaster -- no one was happy about the lord being wed to a girl young enough to be his ''granddaughter'', even the groom himself. He still went through it as he was fighting a war and needed her father's armies and support, but boy did he come to regret it.
** The main romance is between forty-years-old Oberyn Martell and the barely fourteen-years-old Lyarra Snow. It's pretty reasonable an age gap -- in spite of Lyarra's young sister Arya constantly calling attention to it -- but Oberyn still has several daughters older than his own bride and is pretty discomfit over her youth, while Lyarra cannot help but feel scared about the match. However, he genuinely wants to do right by her and she reflects he's not her ''worst'' option, so it ends up working.

** Jon Arryn and Lysa Tully are also an example, with the former even using their [[AwfulWeddedLife unhappy marriage]] as an example of why Robert should not betroth himself to Sansa. Even people who find her unpleasant to deal with (at best) admit to feeling at least some small amount of sympathy for her for getting married off like a broodmare to a man old enough to be her grandfather in order to [[AltarDiplomacy secure a political alliance]]. Though Lysa at least was in her late teens when she got married to Lord Arryn, and thanks to ForWantOfANail courtesy of Varys, they are making a ''somewhat'' more honest go of things, even having a new daughter together.

** Jon Arryn and Lysa Tully are also an example, with the former even using their [[AwfulWeddedLife unhappy marriage]] as an example of why Robert should not betroth himself to Sansa. Even people who find her unpleasant to deal with (at best) admit to feeling at least sympathy for her for getting married off like a broodmare to a man old enough to be her grandfather in order to [[AltarDiplomacy secure a political alliance]]. Though Lysa at least was in her late teens when she got married to Lord Arryn, and thanks to ForWantOfANail courtesy of Varys, they are making a ''somewhat'' more honest go of things, even having a new daughter together.

** Jon Arryn and Lysa Tully are also an example, with the former even using their [[AwfulWeddedLife unhappy marriage]] as an example of why Robert should not betroth himself to Sansa. Though Lysa at least was in her late teens when she got married to Lord Arryn, and thanks to ForWantOfANail courtesy of Varys, they are making a ''somewhat'' more honest go of things, even having a new daughter together.

* ''Fanfic/ThereAndBackAgain'': When King Robert Baratheon learns of the incestuous relationship between Cersei and Jaime, he betroths himself to Sansa Stark, believing it would make her father Ned happy because his daughter has a chance to be queen. Everyone who learns of it expresses shock and disgust - Jon Arryn desperately tries to advise against it, Kevan and Genna Lannister both express disgust at the fact that Sansa ([[PeggySue physically at least]]) is only 13 years old and ''way'' too young to safely have children (which Robert needs ''now'' if he wants to avoid a SuccessionCrisis), and Ned starts [[InternalReveal revealing the truth of Jon's parentage]] and begins openly plotting to put Jon on the throne.

* ''Fanfic/ThereAndBackAgain'': When King Robert Baratheon learns of the incestuous relationship between Cersei and Jaime, he betroths himself to Sansa Stark, believing it would make her father Ned happy because his daughter has a chance to be a queen. Everyone who discusses it is shocked; Jon Arryn cites his own unhappy marriage with Lysa, while Kevan and Genna Lannister note that Sansa is too young to safely have children having not flowered yet.

* Downplayed in ''Fanfic/{{Fairytales}}'' due to the DeliberateValuesDissonance of the 1200s. Snow White is fourteen and her husband is around twenty-five or twenty-six. No one but Grumpy has much of a problem with this. Snow White, being an already naive teenager, is confused about her marriage and has mixed feelings about [[TeenPregnancy being pregnant at fourteen]]. She then [[DeathByChildbirth dies in childbirth]] because her already fragile body can't handle birth at her age.
* ''Fanfic/StarfallStarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': Referenced; when Brad challenges Tom for Star's hand, everyone is disgusted, since he's three times her age. He rolls his eyes and says ''of course'' he's not going to marry her, he'll break off the engagement the second he wins so that she can marry the man she actually loves. It goes against the spirit of the rules, [[ExactWords but not the strict letter of the rules]].

* In ''LightNovel/TheBrideOfAdarshan'', Prince Alexid, in his 20s, weds Princess Justinia, age 10, in a political marriage. It's less squicky than it sounds, because he's self-imposing a JailBaitWait and it is implied that as she grows up he will genuinely fall in love with her. For the most part, their relationship is platonic in nature.

* Gender-inverted and portrayed positively in ''Manga/ABridesStory''. In the late 19th century, a woman named Amir is married to a boy eight years her junior. Amir herself is only twenty, but [[DeliberateValuesDissonance in the setting]] is considered a ChristmasCake already.

* The third wife taken by the Prophet Mohammed is said to have been under ten years old. Hadith sources indicate Ayisha was six or seven at betrothal, and nine on her wedding day. [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement Retrospective accusations of pedophilia set aside]], it is known they remained married for forty-four years.

* ''LightNovel/PocketMonstersTheAnimation'' mentions that ten-year-olds are legal adults who must pay taxes and can get married.

* And when she was betrothed to Joseph, an older carpenter, Mary, the mother of Jesus, is likely to have been not much older than twelve or thirteen.

More information on Wiki/TheOtherWiki available [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_marriage here]].

* ''Manga/{{Ooku}}'': Genderflipped with Iesada's marriage to her second husband. Unlike most examples, she hadn't even met her bridegroom until they came together for the wedding, and she's absolutely horrified to find out he's a child. [[spoiler: Her father Ieyoshi arranged it that way because if [[ParentalIncest he can't have her]], [[{{Yandere}} no one can.]]]]

* ''Literature/TortallUniverse'': Gender-flipped in the ''Literature/TrickstersDuet'', where regents attempt a political match between the [[AChildShallLeadThem 6-year-old king]] and an 18-year-old girl, and later her 13-year-old sister when the elder [[spoiler:elopes with a noble from a neighboring country]]. The marriage never happens, though.

* ''Literature/TortallUniverse'': Gender-flipped in the ''Literature/TrickstersDuet'', where regents attempt a political match between the [[AChildShallLeadThem 6-year-old king]] and a 15-year-old girl, and later her 12-year-old sister when the elder [[spoiler:elopes with a noble from a neighboring country]]. The marriage never happens, though.