The History Of Marriage

(Gay marriage, marriages, marriage, same sex marriage. History of marriage 1/17/13 – 749) With the Supreme Court’s recent approval of gay marriage, the debate of marriage and its
meanings and origins have come into question. When, where, why and how did marriages begin?

How far back did Marriages originate?

Research shows that best evidence of the first marriage took place over 4,350 years ago. Prior to that, many anthropologists believed that families simply consisted of loosely organized clans of people. There were several male leaders and a multiple amount of women that were shared by each of them. In time as the hunters and gatherers began to settle down, society found a need for more stable family life. As such, evidence of the first recorded marriage ceremony for a single man and single woman was in Mesopotamia approximately 2350 B.C. Marriage began to evolve over the next few centuries and was embraced as an institution by the ancient Greeks, Romans and the Hebrews.

What is the purpose of Marriage?

The main reason for marriage back then had nothing to do with religious beliefs or love, but
as a way to guarantee that a male’s children were actually his biological heirs. In the eyes of the ancient Hebrews, men had the freedom to marry several wives, while married Romans and
Greeks were free to satisfy their own sexual urges, and not necessarily with their wives. They were allowed to be active with prostitutes, concubines and even teenage boys. Meanwhile, their wives were required to remain in the home and take care of the household. Husbands also had the right to give back a wife and marry another if she failed to deliver him an offspring.

When did Marriages become a religious event?

Dating back to 1563 at the Council of Trent, it was written into canon law that for a marriage to be legal, it must include the blessings of a priest, thus its sacramental nature. This form of blessing actually began in the eighth century when the Catholic Church began to recognize marriage as a sacrament, otherwise a wedding ceremony that has been bestowed upon God’s grace.

When did love become the reason for a Marriage?

Not until the Middle Ages. Prior to this, marriage was only for practical reasons and not for love. Over time feelings and love became an emotional connection between the couple and therefore, instead of having to be together, they wanted to. However, many believe that the idea of marrying for love was brought on by the French when a knight fell in love with another man’s wife.

Did love win out?

“A History of the Wife” author, and Stanford historian, Marilyn Yalom, credits the concept

of love with giving women a much greater leverage in what used to be seen as a business or

financial transaction and that they no longer existed to solely to serve their husbands. Despite this, it was still believed that the husband owned his wife. Brides changed their last names as a symbol of surrendering her identity. This showed that her husband was the dominant one and would represent the family.

When did the concept of Marriage change?

– Things began to change in 1920 when women were allowed the right to vote. That is when

the institution of marriage as we knew it, transformed. Instead of the husband representing the family, it was now the husband and wife that represented in public.

– In the late 1960’s, interracial marriages bans by the states were overturned, as well as laws against birth control.

– By the 1970’s, the law was changed that would allow prosecution of a husband that raped his

own wife since she was no longer consider his “property” and therefore was the owner of her

own sexuality.

Gay Marriage is nothing new

Despite recent rulings allowing for gay marriage to take place in America, gay marriage has had its place in history. In fact, Nero, who served as the Roman emperor from A.D. 54 to 68, married men two separate occasions that included the formal wedding ceremony. He also forced the Imperial Court to observe and treat them, not as his husbands, but as his wives, thus giving him the authority over them the way a man would with his woman.

In the second and third centuries of Rome, gay weddings were a common happening. By the year

342, the Romans ruled to outlaw formal homosexual unions, even though they still existed on a

lower scale. Yet some continued to be recognized by Greek Orthodox and Catholic churches.