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I think you might be thinking of a dowry, which many people misunderstand. They seem to think a dowry was the husband giving the brides father money or land or other assets in exchange for the bride. A dowry was actually the father giving money or land or assets along with his daughter as bride. Typically she owned that dowry in her own right, so if her husband died, she retained it, though often times the husband managed it for her. Of course, this all depends on time period, location, and social class.
I only know the mythtical story of the human marriage.
There was a goddess made people with her hands. But people didn't breed back then. Then the lonly goddess with the less people made THE marraiage, since they were in the images of a god.; Therefore, the rules for the human marriage were born.
Marriage has always been a transaction for the mutual benefit of all parties concerned.
No it hasn't.
For most of European and history elsewhere marriage was more about family avarice than anything else. This applied from royalty to nobility and right down the line to all but the most dirt poor. The latter had no property and thus it was often of little consequence where they married.
In the cases of royals, nobles and the wealthy children were betrothed often while still in the nursery (or cradle) and married scarcely after they left the nurses' charge. In some instances applications were made to the Church for consummation to take place even when one or both partners were not barely into their teens.
Females in all cultures fared the worse of this lot, husbands were often assigned and once that was done far as law and custom were concerned he was lord and master. A girl who refused the choice of her parents or guardians could be (and often was) locked up, beaten and flung about the room. While forced or arranged marriages were the norm for say England for many classes right up to the 19th century, there were those fathers/parents who allowed a girl to choose for herself (a love match).
Men Stronger, women weaker....Men needed taken care of... just in case their mother died.... marriage was invented..
Legal marriage as we know it in Europe and thus North America and elsewhere is nothing else but about property rights and the legality of heirs. We saw this as the debate over "gay marriage" played out the past decade world over. You don't need a piece of paper from the state to bind you to someone; however if you want the law to enforce certain inheritance, property and other rights/benefits for yourself and or children of a union (even if unofficial), then you need something more than a bond of trust.
When controlled by the Church the only persons who really *legally* married were royalty, nobles, the wealthy and anyone else with property/assets. They needed the clarity that came from laws regarding property, legal heirs, inheritance (of assets, wealth and whatever including a throne), and so forth.
The poor and anyone else who didn't see worth bothering lived in "sin" for months or years until a priest happened to show up in their town or village to marry them.
As an offshoot of the Protestant Reformation states began to take over marriage from the Church or any other religion. The crown, state or whatever had a vested interest in seeing legal marriage take hold and spread. For on thing marriage was thought to have a calming influence upon men. The other thing was biology; men were laying with women regardless. With that came babies, but just what woman and her offspring could lay claim upon a man and or his property.
The full extent of this is that in many European countries such as France the civil (state) marriage ceremony is the only one which matters. Couples can have a religious service afterwards if they wish, but unlike say the USA where there is a choice between the registry office or a minister, there is only one option in such places. This explains why gay marriage was more easily dealt with in such countries. The state controls marriage period.
Legal marriage as we know it in Europe and thus North America and elsewhere is nothing else but about property rights and the legality of heirs. We saw this as the debate over "gay marriage" played out the past decade world over. You don't need a piece of paper from the state to bind you to someone; however if you want the law to enforce certain inheritance, property and other rights/benefits for yourself and or children of a union (even if unofficial), then you need something more than a bond of trust.
When controlled by the Church the only persons who really *legally* married were royalty, nobles, the wealthy and anyone else with property/assets. They needed the clarity that came from laws regarding property, legal heirs, inheritance (of assets, wealth and whatever including a throne), and so forth.
The poor and anyone else who didn't see worth bothering lived in "sin" for months or years until a priest happened to show up in their town or village to marry them.
As an offshoot of the Protestant Reformation states began to take over marriage from the Church or any other religion. The crown, state or whatever had a vested interest in seeing legal marriage take hold and spread. For on thing marriage was thought to have a calming influence upon men. The other thing was biology; men were laying with women regardless. With that came babies, but just what woman and her offspring could lay claim upon a man and or his property.
The full extent of this is that in many European countries such as France the civil (state) marriage ceremony is the only one which matters. Couples can have a religious service afterwards if they wish, but unlike say the USA where there is a choice between the registry office or a minister, there is only one option in such places. This explains why gay marriage was more easily dealt with in such countries. The state controls marriage period.
In Scotlands past a couple could marry themselves with just a bible.. Robert Burns did this..At about the same time, Burns fell in love with Mary Campbell (1763–1786), whom he had seen in church while he was still living in Tarbolton. She was born near Dunoon and had lived in Campbeltown before moving to work in Ayrshire. He dedicated the poems "The Highland Lassie O", "Highland Mary", and "To Mary in Heaven" to her. His song "Will ye go to the Indies, my Mary, And leave auld Scotia's shore?" suggests that they planned to emigrate to Jamaica together. Their relationship has been the subject of much conjecture, and it has been suggested that on 14 May 1786 they exchanged Bibles and plighted their troth over the Water of Fail in a traditional form of marriage. Soon afterwards Mary Campbell left her work in Ayrshire, went to the seaport of Greenock, and sailed home to her parents in Campbeltown.[8][9]
In October 1786, Mary and her father sailed from Campbeltown to visit her brother in Greenock. Her brother fell ill with typhus, which she also caught while nursing him. She died of typhus on 20 or 21 October 1786 and was buried there,,,,, after reading more about Burns I think he flaunted his bible more than once at the girls..
The history of marriage was removed from the bible
When the serpent tempted eve...and God banned them from Eden...not only did he bestow them with the curse of sin...he ALSO blamed adam for letting the weaker eve seduce him...so he cursed adam and ALL men after him with marriage...he was one ANGRY god
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