Elizabethan+Wedding+Customs


 * Marriage Customs of the Elizabethan Era **
 * I t was considered unwise to marry for people
 * Marriages were arranged with the intention of bringing wealth and prestige to the families involved
 * Many times, couples didn’t even meet until the actual wedding day
 * Elizabethan women were inferior to men, and were dependent on their male relatives
 * It was the male relatives of the family who were usually in charge of arranging the marriages
 * Women were expected to bring a dowry (money, goods, or property) to the marriage
 * The age of consent was 21. But with parental permission, boys could legally marry at the age of 14 and girls could legally marry at the age of 12
 * A proper wedding is based on three things: consent, exchange of rings or tokens, and consummation
 * A marriage could only be annulled if it was never consummated
 * Betrothal was the first step to a contract of marriage; it was sealed with a kiss and signatures
 * A wedding contract was signed on the day of the ceremony
 * The Wedding ceremony would be performed by a minister in a church
 * //Crying the Bannes// was the announcement of a couples intention to marry.
 * It had to be announced at church three times on three consecutive Sundays or Holy Days. This allowed time for any objections to be made
 * Any marriage not publicized before was illegal
 * In the event that a marriage needed to be arranged quickly (e.g. an illegitimate pregnancy), a marriage license had to be issued by the bishop in order to have the marriage considered lawful
 * In this instance, the Crying of the Bans only had to happen one time
 * A bridal procession would move the bride’s family from their home to the church. This was a very happy, festive event with musicians
 * The ceremony itself was solemn, but was followed with a celebratory wedding feast
 * The color of the wedding clothes was not the traditional white, but rather varied among different people
 * They wore whatever they had that was best. If they came from an upper-class family and could afford it, brides would often wear a new dress

A wedding feast, c. 1569

//The Third Eclogues// in “The Old Arcadia” takes place at the wedding ceremony of Lalus and Kala. Sidney opens the Eclogue by saying: “Lalus’s marriage time once known, there needed no inviting of the neighbours in that valley; for so well was Lalus beloved that they were all ready to do him credit. Neither yet came they like harpies to devour him, but one brought a fat pig, the other a tender kid, a third a great goose; as for cheese, milk and butter were the gossips’ presents.” (//Major Works//, pg. 98) It was not necessary to invite the people in the village, because they would have already known about it, after the various wedding announcements in church. The Eclogue later includes a variance of speeches, beginning with Dicus singing a song of advice to the newlyweds. In which, he sings about the harsh repercussions of jealousy in marriage, singing:

“But above all, away vile jealousy, The ill of ills, just cause to be unjust, (How can he love, suspecting treachery? How can she love where love cannot win trust?)” (//Major Works//, pg. 101)

Dicus finishes his song with “For Hymen will their coupled joys maintain.” (//Major// Works, pg. 101). Here, Dicus blatantly refers to sex and consummation of the marriage between the newlyweds (Lalus and virgin Kala). In this line, Sidney brings up one of the most important rules of marriage, which is the consummation of the marriage. Without this, the marriage is not considered to be real.

Ann Breitfeller

**Works Cited** "Elizabethan Era Information." //Online Reference - Information Articles & Reference Resources FindTarget Reference//. Web. 25 Sept. 2010. . "Elizabethan Marriages and Weddings." //ELIZABETHAN ERA//. Web. 25 Sept. 2010. . "History of Weddings: From the Middle Ages to the Present." //History Undressed//. Web. 25 Sept. 2010. . Sir Philip Sidney,//The Major Works// (Oxford World's Classics),Oxford University Press, USA (2002), ISBN-10: 0192840800.