THEGAYUK FEB/MARCH
2014
FEATURE
THE HISTORY
OF MARRIAGE
By Antony Simpson
The History of Marriage in
the UK
In this article we look at the
history of marriage in the UK.
Our history starts at 410AD, as
before this time there were no
written records of the history of
marriage. Before written records,
history was past down orally from
the older generation to the
younger one, unfortunately over
time this oral history has been
lost.
410AD:
The AngloSaxons and
Other Tribal
Groups
For many people marriage is
strongly associated with religion,
but this wasn’t always the case.
Straight marriages at this time
were about peace and
prosperity rather than religion.
Marriages encouraged good
diplomatic relations and the
development of trade
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between two (or more) tribal
groups.
It was the fathers who decided
who their daughters married and
the wishes of the couple were
seen as irrelevant.
12th Century:
Consent
In 1140 Decretum Grantiani
wrote a canon textbook were he
introduced the concept of verbal
consent to straight marriage and
the requirement for a couple to
consummate their union to
validate their marriage.