Love and Marriage – Chronological Notes
By Tana L. Pedersen
22 October 2009
From the wooing to the wedding ceremony, every culture, country, and religion has its own strange and unique ways to celebrate the joining of two people in holy matrimony.
ca. 200 BC
By Tana L. Pedersen
22 October 2009
From the wooing to the wedding ceremony, every culture, country, and religion has its own strange and unique ways to celebrate the joining of two people in holy matrimony.
ca. 200 BC
Some of the best marriages don’t begin until one or more of the parties is dead. In China a family can have its deceased (and single) loved one married to a living partner in order to continue the family line. The wedding ceremony is traditional with the exception of the bride or bridegroom being represented by a wooden, paper, or fabric likeness.
ca. 100 BC
Auctioning off women to the highest bidder doesn’t sound very palatable to modern ears, but the Samnite tribes of ancient Italy find a way to turn it into a charity event. The town’s beauties — who will pull in a good price — are sold first. Then the proceeds from their sales are used to buy husbands for their less attractive counterparts.
ca. 100
A simple kiss at the altar. It’s a predictable scene at almost every wedding ceremony. Today it’s a sign of affection, but 2,000 years ago in Rome, a kiss is required to make any contract legally binding. Marriage is no exception.
860
If you’re a Christian man getting ready to take a bride, Pope Nicholas I makes it a little more costly by requiring a men to present his love with an engagement ring. And a circle made of woven reeds or an iron bauble won’t do. The band must be made from gold to show the man’s ability to take care of his future wife.
1000
If Freud had lived in medieval Scandinavia he surely would have had something to say about this courtship custom. When it’s time to find an eligible mate for a daughter, a father has her wear an empty sheath on her belt. If a man wants to make an offer for her, he places his knife in the sheath and negotiations begin.
1288
Leave it to the Scots to take Sadie Hawkins Day to the next level. A new law permits a woman to ask a reluctant bachelor for his hand in marriage — as long as it’s leap year. If he refuses, he may be fined up to one pound.
1733
According to preacher Jonathan Edwards, Satan is taking over colonial America. How did he get his foot in the door? Bundling. Because of the distance suitors must travel to visit their sweethearts (not to mention the cold New England temperatures), courting couples are allowed to spend the night together in bed, fully clothed with a bundling board placed in between them.
1800
Slaves living in the United States are considered property, and as such they have no legal right to marry. But that doesn’t stop couples from joining their lives together in unsanctioned ceremonies. In front of family and friends, the man and woman jump over a broom together to signify their commitment to each other.
1902
Cross-dressing may not be on everyone’s post-nuptial to-do list. But for the men in the Maasai tribe in Africa it’s their way of walking a mile in their wives’ shoes, or rather dresses. Luckily the ritual lasts for only a month.
1918
If your first act after saying “I do” is a scenic tour through the city and a visit to war memorials, you must be living in post-revolutionary Russia. When the communist government issues new “family codes” that strip religion from matrimony, it changes the way their citizens marry — and celebrate — and gives rise to new customs, such as the tour of the city, the progulka.
2007
“Miss World Marries Tree.” It sounds like a headline ripped from the tabloids, but in this case it’s Hindu tradition. When astrology charts reveal that beauty contestant and Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai is a manglik, she does the only thing a girl can do: exchange vows with a peepal or a banana tree. According to custom, the first marriage of a manglik can end in disaster, including divorce or death. To combat the curse, Aishwarya must first marry an inanimate object such as a tree.
http://www.ancestrymagazine.com/2009/10/history/love-and-marriage/
