Medieval marriage customs

SarahWoodbury · Post by **SarahWoodbury** » Tue March 31st, 2009, 2:43 am

Marriage rules varied by country too, as well as religion. In Wales, for example, the Roman Christianity had less influence over custom than in other parts of Europe and many of the native Welsh laws were much less repressive towards women. The Christian Church didn't even really start blessing marriages until the 13th century, for the most part. Marriage was a contract and the church stayed out of it.

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Tue March 31st, 2009, 9:39 am

[quote=""SarahWoodbury""]Marriage rules varied by country too, as well as religion. In Wales, for example, the Roman Christianity had less influence over custom than in other parts of Europe and many of the native Welsh laws were much less repressive towards women. The Christian Church didn't even really start blessing marriages until the 13th century, for the most part. Marriage was a contract and the church stayed out of it.[/quote]

The Statutes of Salisbury circa 1217 seems to have put matters on a regular footing, but the church was involved much earlier than this - see Love, Sex and Marriage in the Middle Ages a Sourcebook edited by Conor McCarthy. For e.g. an Anglo Saxon law 'concerning the betrothal of a woman'
'At the marriage there should by rights be a mass-priest who shall unite them together with God's blessing in all prosperity.' This is dated no later than 1042