The History of Sex Rights

We had a lovely conversation today in class regarding the history of marriage. It is really a captivating subject as we begin to ask questions about marriage, wedding, engagement, sex, law, land rights and many more... Here is an outline of the notes on the history and development of marriage. You might find some interesting pieces in here... (I can't maintain the skeleton of the outline so just pay attention to the numbers and roman numerals...)


III. History of the Wedding Rite
A. Our weddings customs today are a strange mix of theology, superstition and law.
B. Jewish antecedents
1. Marriage though sacred was not ritualized in a sacred way, Jewish weddings in the main are primarily secular events
2. One would be betrothed or committed to another and would often begin living together
3. Marriage was the celebration of this promise that was celebrated for days, as people would come in as travel allowed.
C. Roman Antecedents
1. Marriage was simply a promise made by two individuals to each other
2. Often this was done in a ritual context, but it was not necessary
3. One would have a ceremony of betrothal (we now call engagement) which would make promises of future wedding plans along with an exchange of rings
4. The wedding rite began at the home of the bride where the couple would join hand and make vows, offer a sacrifice on the family altar, then would proceed to the home of the new couple for a banquet with a wedding cake, and marriage bed rites (with hopes for male children)
D. Late influences
1. When the feudal realities of life began to creep in, the marriage rite became a nexus of economic and familial exchange, the bonding of tribes through the sharing of property which included the bride (think of Monty Python & Holy Grail)
*Clerical celibacy should be seen as the church's way of doing damage control with the distribution of parish land
2. Here you have the giving away of the bride, fertility rites (rice), veiling the bride and adding bridesmaids to confuse evil spirits (later during the plague the best people would replace the spouse in event of death)
3. Weddings were secular rites, Christians were to use them and to marry other Christians in them but they took place in homes and taverns and not churches
E. Church involvement
1. As the medieval era progressed, legal issues became more essential, particularly proof of marriage
2. For proof of marriage the wealthy had wedding portraits painted, the poor needed simply a written document, and often the only literate person was the clergy (which literally means "learned")
3. By about 1100 the service went something like this:
a. Rite of consent with ring outside of church, at times at the church door
b. Procession into church
c. Nuptial mass with nuptial blessing just before the fraction
d. Blessing of bed in the home
4. The marriage rite was essentially a legal exchange with the vows becoming an irrevocable contract.
F. Elements of Rite
1. Betrothal
2. Bans
3. Vows
4. Nuptial Blessing
5. Relationship between wedding and reception
6. Relationship between wedding and marriage
a. Process not moment
b. Ritualize the process
IV. Interpretation of the practice
A. Anthropology from Aristotle through Augustine to Thomas
B. Women were seen as incomplete men though possessing a rational soul they were created essentially for their womb.
C. For example, Adam was created independent, Eve was dependent.
D. Man is active, woman is passive
E. Adam only needed Eve for procreation, and women are saved through child bearing (1 Tim 2:15)
F. Women were less like God in nature, not a head or leader, hence are excluded from orders
G. Some even suggested that women could not be saved because they were too carnal
*Jewish anthropology
H. Virginity was a woman’s attempt to become more male by attempting to control their desires.
I. Following Greek society Women are domestic, men are social
J. Marriage was essentially a change of state for the woman and not the man
K. In a day and age when women were seriously devalued, they were "queen for a day" at their wedding
L. Theology
1. Marriage as a sacrament has a difficult history as the sacrality of the sacraments is too muddled in the sinful carnage of sex
2. Marriage was seen as a remedy for concupiscence, or diminishing lust
3. In the scholastic period it was often seen in a negative light.
4. Marriage as a natural or physical relation was the consent one gave to have sex with another.
5. Marriage as a sacrament was a consent for sex as well as the union of souls
6. Still, the union was of greater to lesser
M. Today we think of gender differently, yet we preserve many of the same rites and even language (ie: giving the bride away)
N. How much of the tradition do we keep, reject or redeem?