GEN-MEDIEVAL-L Archives
Archiver > GEN-MEDIEVAL > 1999-03 > 0921106965
From: "ED MANN" <>
Subject: Re: Medieval Marriage
Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1999 18:02:45 -0500
Michelle.Murphy% <who still can't get a real
address into her messages . . . > wrote:
> Further to a comment a week or so ago on medieval marriage (i.e. that
> the minimum age prescribed by the Church for conjugal relations was 12
> years old), I was wondering: did that mean that ANY marriage made
> involving one or both spouses aged under 12 years could be dissolved
> at will, because a marriage was not seen as a true marriage unless it
> was consummated, and the Church would not recognise consummation if
> one or both spouses were aged under 12 years? Or was the practice of
> touching the groom (or proxy)'s bare foot against the bride's naked
> leg sufficient to consummate the marriage, and would it uphold the
> marriage if someone decided to try to maintain that it was not a true
> marriage?
At a certain social level, marriages were often precontracted at a very
tender age, to be consummated later.
It may be useful to think of these arranged marriages as treaties or
land deals.
--
FWIW; AFAIK; IMHO; YMMV; yadda, yadda, yadda.
Regards, Ed Mann mailto:
This thread:
| Re: Medieval Marriage by "ED MANN" <> |