Marriage in 18th Century Europe Essay - 1004 Words

Marriage in 18th Century Europe The major movement regarding marriage in the eighteenth century was from church to state. Marital laws and customs, once administered and governed by the church, increasingly came to be controlled by legislators who passed many laws restricting the circumstances and legality of marriages. These restrictions tended to represent the interests of the wealthy and uphold patriarchal tradition. Backlash to these restrictions produced a number of undesirable practices, including promiscuity, wife-sale, and divorce. Before the eighteenth century, marriage was far less complicated. Verbal consent and consumation constituted legal marriage: once the knot was tied by such verbal exchanges it could not be†¦show more content†¦shall incur the penalty of the law now enforced against witchcraft and like misdemeanors, and that the marriage upon conviction shall stand null and void. (Murstein 227) In 1753, Lord Hardwickes Marriage Act was passed in an attempt to do away with unlicensed marriages and protect the rights of the wealthy. It voided premarital contracts and prohibited marriages of those under 21 without parental consent. The act also required a license for marriage and a public announcement thereof. Anyone who disobeyed these laws would find their marriage voided and themselves banished for fourteen years (Outhwaite 78-9). This act was principally designed to restrict unlicensed and undesirable marriages between social classes. By requiring parental consent the act gave parents the right to invalidate any marrriage they considered undesirable. English legislators expressed relief at having done away with foolish notions of romantic love in favor of more practical statutes governing the institution. According to Murstein, among the wealthy, marriage was primarily a business arrangement (206). 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