Over time, the concept of marriage and what it means to be husband and wife has gone through an astonishing amount of change. The act of getting married to someone has been around for an unbelievable chunk of human history, and it is interesting to take a look at how we have evolved.
If you are interested to learn about how marriage has changed over time, and are someone who is keen to learn about a bit of history – then stick around.
Marriage as a way to bind families
Throughout most of history, people were only married as a means to bring two families closer. This only really stopped around the 1800s to 1900s, when people were more likely to marry out of attraction and love.
A lot of cultures throughout history, and even still to this day tend to have marriages that are predetermined, often by the family. During the harsh times of the past, especially during the medieval dark ages, survival and cooperation between families were essential. Often, it was just expected for people to get married and continue their bloodline.
Older instances of marriage were purely practical and served only as a way to create an alliance between families. This was more common during ancient times. Especially in Ancient Greece and Rome, women were actually considered to be the literal property of men. The role of a woman was to purely create offspring and have them tend to the household. Yikes.
Marriage as a norm
It was only around the late 20th and early 21st century that it was not seen as an essential need to get married. But before then, having offspring and continuing your surname was seen as something vital and as a way of life.
Nowadays, being single isn’t particularly looked at as a bad thing, and people are less inclined to feel guilt for being alone. Of course, there were people throughout history that never got married or had children – take Leonardo da Vinci for example. Da Vinci lived during the late 15th and early 16th century, a time that was ruled by tradition and expectations. Leonardo never married or had children, and this was often wondered upon by fellow artists and acquaintances.
But ask your grandparents, because around the 1940s to 1960s it was still unusual to be an adult and unmarried. Having children was also something that was expected to happen, and during that time it was taboo to have a child out of wedlock.
Marriage in religion
It was also considered essential to get married due to a lot of religious beliefs. This is still the case now, but in the past it was emphasised that marriage is a gift from God, and was encouraged in order for people to continue having children.
A lot of Islamic religions practice arranged marriages, as they have done so in the past. Although almost nonexistent now, it wouldn’t be unusual for Christians to partake in arranged marriages too.
Although there are so many different religions, one thing is usually shared between them all: The fact that it was encouraged to partake in God’s creation and multiply. It is even stereotypical for a lot of heavily religious people to have lots of children to this day.
Wedding Ceremonies
Weddings of the past were also very different, but still are the backbone of today’s weddings. It was almost always required for people to have their weddings inside of a church. A priest or other religious figures would be there to officiate a marriage.
Nowadays, people get married in places like beaches, parks, gardens and so on. The whole vibe towards a wedding has gotten a lot more relaxed and easy going. Instead of priests, people will have marriage celebrants. Although things have changed, a large majority of weddings are still done traditionally at churches regardless if people are religious or not.
Another thing that was done more so in the past but still exists today was the act of getting permission to marry from the father of the bride. A man would approach the father and ask if he could marry his daughter, and if the father were to agree – then he shall receive the “father’s blessing”. If things go well, you are ready to give your partner a diamond ring, although these days it’s more like a ring made with a lab grown diamond.
It was pretty much compulsory for this to happen back in the day. Now though, some people may not even be aware of it even being a thing. The whole “father’s blessing” tradition simply comes from the fact that men were often the ones who were to be in control of the family’s affairs.
If you still very much admire the respect of asking for a father’s blessing, then you should do so – but it will be ideal to do so with the woman’s mother too. This shows that you are a very well mannered and respectful gentleman.
Homosexual Marriage
For most of human history, it was illegal to be in a same sex relationship. It was only until very recently that countries legalised gay marriage. But before that, everything had to be kept secret as being homosexual was considered very unusual.
Although gay men and women have existed since humans ever walked the earth, marriage between the two of the same sex is defintely only something to occur during this lifetime. Although during the times of ancient Greece, as well as patches through the renaissance, relationships between two men was not exactly the rarest occurrence.
Thankfully, these days homosexual marriages are treated as equal as typical marriages. Before then, gay couples would have to get unoffically married, or just live in a de facto relationship. Even earlier, and gay relationships were something that had to be completely avoided.
Marriage and Children
Back in the day, if you wanted to have a child – you would have to get married first. A child born out of wedlock was referred to as a “bastard”, and this word is now something derogatory and dated.
These days, this is not so much the case. Chances are, if you are reading this then you may even be a child born from unmarried parents. A lot of couples who were just found to be pregnant would get what is known as “shotgun weddings’ ‘ – which is a wedding that was quickly arranged to avoid the taboo of having a “bastard child”.
Conclusion
Marriage has gone through massive changes throughout history, but a lot of its traditions are still kept to the core. In summary, marriage has been around for thousands of years but has only in relatively recent times been used as a way to bond people together with love. Before that, marriage was often done to help two families in a businesslike sense.
Having children out of wedlock and being in a homosexual relationship were things that were seen as highly unusual, but nowadays they are completely accepted in modern society.
Marriage still remains something that is traditional and sacred, so a lot of modern weddings will still follow with the tradition of women wearing a white wedding dress (which symbolises purity and virginity).
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by Australian Diamond Brokers : March 30th 2023 Come visit our store or browse our website to find out more.