Medieval Marriage

Medieval marriage was based on religion, procreation, status and wealth. Women could decide to become celibate and devote their life to Christ or marry to procreate. Marriages were often arranged and not based on love. The church proclaimed marriage between man and woman as a marriage to Christ. In the 1400s to 1500s marriage was considered valid by the church based on consent and by the couple exchanging vows in front of a witness; this is how many marriages came to be and reason for divorce. Many people would exchange vows with someone they met in a pub or on the street just so they could get into bed with the person under good circumstance in the eyes of the church. Individuals would have multiple marriages. When the court noticed this they were not happy and wanted to rid their people of the sins they were committing so they set new laws to marriage. In order to prevent multiple marriages the church made it almost impossible to get separated from a marriage. The only ways to maybe get out of a marriage in the eyes of the court were if the marriage was void, death, the marriage was not consummated, the spouses were too closely related, or if a partner had a valid marriage before. Looking back to author Marie de France, in her lais’ Equitan and Le Fresne, she mentions marriage but in two completely different situations. In Equitan a spouse commits adultery with their lover, is caught and both the lover and spouse are killed, in a cruel way this expresses the only way out marriage being ‘til death do you part. In Le Fresne, a knight is forced into marriage and before the marriage is consummated it is established that the marriage will be separated based on the knight and Fresne’s love for one another. This lai shows the marriage not valid in the eyes of the church because though they consented and exchanged vows, the marriage was not consummated. If a couple had sex without marriage the couple would be tried and punished because it was considered a sin. The door to divorce was not unlocked until King Henry the 8th was allowed annulment of his marriage twice after removing the Pope from the head of the church and being appointed head of the church himself. When watching this documentary and reading Marie de Frances’ work, I was surprised to read of the struggles in marriage and the lack of love within them. There are numerous things that through the years have changed drastically such as divorce being a very common thing in our time. Medieval marriage is a fascinating topic but I am relieved to live in the time period I am in now.