Author: M. Asem Ismail Zahi
The Importance and position of Marriage from the Perspective of Medicine (Part two)
Europe
In ancient Greece, no specific legal ceremony was required to establish a marriage; the mere agreement of the parties and the acceptance of each other as husband and wife was sufficient. Men usually married when they reached their twenties or thirties, while their wives were expected to be in early adolescence.
It has been stated that these ages were suitable for the Greeks because men were usually freed from military service by the age of thirty, and marrying a young girl guaranteed her virginity. Married women in ancient Greece had few rights and were expected to care for the home and children. Timing was a significant factor in Greek marriages. For example, according to a superstition, marrying during a full moon brought happiness, and according to “Robert Flacelière,” Greeks married during winter. Inheritance was much more important than emotions: if a woman’s father died and she had no male heirs, she was compelled to marry her closest male relative, even if she had to divorce her current husband beforehand.[1]
Ancient Rome
In ancient Rome, there were various types of marriage. The traditional (customary) form, called conventio in manum, required a ceremony with witnesses and could be annulled through specific rituals.
In this type of marriage, the woman lost her inheritance rights in her former family and gained the rights of her new family. She became subject to her husband’s authority. There was also a type of free marriage called sine manu; in this contract, the woman remained a member of her own family, stayed under the authority of her father, retained her inheritance rights from her natal family, and acquired no rights in her new family. The minimum marriage age for girls was 12.
From the early Christian period (30–325 CE), marriage was viewed as an entirely private matter, without the need for special religious ceremonies. However, around 110 CE, Ignatius of Antioch wrote to Polycarp of Smyrna, saying: “It is proper for men and women who marry to unite with the consent of the bishop, that their marriage may be according to God and not according to lust.”[2]
By the twelfth century, women were required to take their husband’s name, and from the latter half of the sixteenth century, parental consent along with the church’s approval became necessary for marriage.
In medieval Europe, marriage was regarded as one of the most prominent elements of international and inter-family relations, serving as a primary source for acquiring land, sovereignty, and alliances, and as the most important pillar of diplomacy. The relationships between countries and rulers depended less on shared borders or common interests, and more on extraordinary dynastic connections and genealogical ties that could make a Hungarian prince heir to Naples or an English prince a claimant to the Castilian throne. The daughters and sons of nobility, exchanged in such dynastic marriages, functioned like threads of fabric, creating a complex web of inter-family relations and conflicting claims.[3]
The longest war in European history—the Hundred Years’ War—arose from one of these dynastic marriages. The feelings and opinions of the marrying individuals, as well as the interests of the people affected by the results, were never considered.
Except for some local cases until 1545, Christian marriages in Europe were concluded through the consent of the parties, a declaration of intent to marry, and the physical union of the couple. The spouses verbally pledged to marry each other. The presence of a priest or witnesses was not required. This pledge was known as verbum. If expressed in the present tense (for example, “I marry you”), it was unquestionably binding. If expressed in the future tense (“I will marry you”), it resulted in a betrothal. One of the church’s functions in the Middle Ages was recording marriages, though this was not compulsory. Since such matters were settled in ecclesiastical courts, there was no governmental interference in marriage and personal status.
In the Middle Ages, marriages were often arranged in advance, sometimes at birth. These arrangements were usually designed to secure contracts between various royal families, nobles, and feudal heirs. The church opposed such forced unions and expanded the reasons for declaring them invalid. As Christianity spread during the Roman and medieval periods, the idea of free choice in selecting a life partner also grew and expanded.[4]
The average marriage age from the late thirteenth to the early sixteenth centuries was about 25. The registration of marriages and marriage laws became part of the Protestant Reformation and were ratified by the state. These reforms reflected Martin Luther’s view that marriage was a “worldly matter.”
In the seventeenth century, many Protestant European countries experienced conflicts with the state over marriage. The average marriage age ranged between 25–44 for men and 22–39 for women. In England in 1753, the validity of marriage by consent was regulated by Lord Hardwicke’s Act in the Anglican Church. This law introduced specific requirements such as the presence of witnesses during the ceremony.[5]
As part of the Counter-Reformation, in 1563 the Council of Trent decreed that Roman Catholic marriages were only valid if a formal ceremony was held in the presence of a priest and two witnesses. The council also issued in 1566 religious teachings on marriage, defining it as: “the matrimonial union between a man and a woman, a contract between two qualified persons, binding them to live together throughout their lives.”
In the early modern period, John Calvin and his fellow Protestants reformed Christian marriage laws in Geneva, advocating for the dual requirement of civil registration and church consecration. In England and Wales in 1753, Lord Hardwicke’s Marriage Act required a formal ceremony; performing it in a non-standard way led to clandestine marriages.
Such secret or irregular marriages were carried out at Fleet Prison and hundreds of other places. Between 1690 and the enactment of the Marriage Act in 1753, about 300,000 clandestine marriages took place at Fleet Prison alone. This law required a formal ceremony recognized and registered by an Anglican priest and two witnesses. It was not applicable to Jewish and Quaker minorities, who married according to their own customs.
Under the Marriage Act of 1836, beginning in 1837, civil marriage was recognized in England and Wales as a legal alternative to church marriage. In Germany, civil marriages were recognized in 1875. The law allowed marriage ceremonies before civil registry officials, provided both parties declared their intention to marry sincerely and validly. The law also permitted, if desired, additional private religious ceremonies.[6]
In contemporary English common law, marriage is a voluntary contract between a man and a woman, in which they accept each other as husband and wife. Edward Westermarck stated that “the institution of marriage probably evolved from an ancient custom.”[7]
The ancient Greeks were the people who introduced marriage with dowry. Apparently, since men had little interest in marriage, the dowry was made customary to encourage them.
Nothing certain is known about ancient Egypt, but limited evidence suggests that marriage did not exist in that period.[8]
Continues…
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References
[1]. Abdul-Hay, Mustafa, Woman in Islam, p.175, trans. Ebrahimi, Mahmoud, 2015, Nashr Ihsan – Tehran.
[2]. Nock, Steven, Marriage in Men’s Lives, p.132, trans. Ghaffari, Saeed, Gohar Kamal Publishing, 2003, Tehran.
[3]. Ibid.
[4]. Ghazanfari, Zhaleh, Marriage and Evolution (An Introduction to the Impact of Marriage on Spiritual and Physical Development), p.33, 2006, Faragiran Sina Publishing – Tehran.
[5]. Ibid.
[6]. Nock, Steven, Marriage in Men’s Lives, p.141, trans. Ghaffari, Saeed, Gohar Kamal Publishing, 2003, Tehran.
[7]. Ibid.
[8]. Ibid.
