Marriage In The Middle Ages

4 Pages 1035 Words

As human beings, we often spend our entire lives living to be loved and searching for our “soul mate.” In response to this need for love and companionship, the tradition of marriage was brought into existence. The idea of a "perfect" wedding has drastically changed over the years; however, if we examine history, we will find that no other era was as influential towards marriage as the Middle Ages. One might say the medieval marriages were the building blocks to what marriage is today.
The appropriate age to get married in the Middle Ages was much younger than what we see today. Grooms, on the average, were much older than their brides. More than three-fourths of all women were married before they reached the age of nineteen; however, there were cases of noble women not marrying until twenty-four. Couples typically married as soon as they reached maturity or were able to have children. Love, however, was not seen as a necessity. This is a result of the medieval belief that the sole purpose of marriage was to reproduce. Most couples weren't married by choice; rather the majority of marriages were arranged. This custom allowed families control over who their children spent the rest of their lives with.
Marriage laws in the Middle Ages were very strict, yet to the point. Each marriage custom had laws to go along with it; if these laws were not upheld, legal action could be taken. The council of Westminster decided in 1076 that no man should give his daughter or female relative to anyone without religious blessing. Later, councils would decide that marriage should not be secret but held in the open. Marriage became a public confession of two people's love for one another. Witnesses are and were always present at a wedding to ensure its validity.
Many of the wedding customs followed by medieval couples are still carried out today. Even in medieval marriage vows, the couple's promise to each other was sealed with a kiss which symbo...