History of Weddings Part 2

The Romans were the first to establish weddings as a juridical institution. In ancient Rome weddings were performed with ritual formulas which were not always legally binding. Only a ceremony between Roman citizens had legal validity.

The wedding agreement was actually made between the two families. After that, the groom would give his future wife a loaf of bread and a ring – in iron or in a precious metal, according to the financial possibilities of the groom- on which an image of two hands holding each other was engraved.

The wedding actually occurred only after a few years.  The ceremony was held in front of witnesses and occasionally could be blessed by a religious authority. The bride would pass from her father’s authority to her husband’s one pronouncing the formula “Ubi ti Gaius, ego Gaia” In later years, the formula evolved and became an expression of free will to get married. Roman weddings were always monogamous but divorce was admitted; Caesar, for example, got married 4 times.  On the wedding day the bride dressed in white and wore an orange colour veil with a crown made of pretty flowers.

Wedding in Medieval Ages

After the Roman Empire dissolved wedding took two different directions.

On one side the growing strength of Christianity in western countries restricted the wedding ceremonies.  Whilst other relationships outside weddings were tolerated in ancient Rome and were possible also according to the Germanic rites this practice was condemned by the Christian authorities. The formal Christian Wedding was celebrated at the bride's home and was blessed by a priest. It consisted of a formal promise, written and signed by both parties.

On the other side, the end of the Roman Empire left space for abuses and many types of informal weddings. Kidnapping, secret ones, divorces, polygamous relationships were just some of the common practices.

In 1215 the Church formally ruled wedding ceremonies. A Wedding was declared a sacred act finalized to procreation.  Divorces were no longer admitted and it was compulsory to make public all wedding celebrations to avoid polygamy or secret relationships. The ceremony had to take place only if there was free consensus between the parts. These rules, with slight modifications, are still used nowadays in Catholic practices.

Weddings in Modern Age

The birth of Protestant religions determined many different rites.  The countries adhering to Protestant reform imposed the registration of every wedding in a public registry. In some cases, weddings lost their sacred proprieties and therefore divorce was admitted.  It was in these times that the modern civil wedding had birth.

After the Trentum Concilium in 1563, the countries that remained faithful to the Catholic rite imposed the registration of weddings in the local parish registry. Weddings had to be celebrated by a priest and in front of witnesses. It was not allowed for the bride and grooms to live together before the celebration of the Catholic rite.  It was only after the French revolution in 1792 that Catholic countries introduced civil weddings and divorce practices.

Civil weddings in modern form were introduced in Germany in 1875 where a distinct separation between state and church was introduced. A Civil wedding had to be performed in front of public authority whilst the religious wedding became a simple private ceremony with no official validity.

In Italy, civil wedding celebrations were re-introduced in 1865. In 1929 it was formerly approved that both civil and catholic weddings were legally binding.

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