03-27-2013, 04:35 PM
LD wrote:
I would disagree that "marriage" is a strictly religious concept, it was originally created as a contract property arrangement, the religious aspect came later.
Lemon Drop is correct.
Oxford Analytica wrote:
In Roman law marriage was originally a relationship based on the husband's domination over the wife (manus) and later a relatively “free marriage” (i.e., union of equals in which divorce was permissible). The radical Christian sects (Marcionites, Gnostics) attacked marriage as contrary to the Gospels, as fornication, and as the work of the devil. Mainstream Christianity had to work out a compromise between the complete rejection of marriage and the Roman legal concept of “free marriage” following St. Paul's dictum that “it is better to marry than to burn” (1 Cor 7:9). Late Roman legislation shifted back and forth on the question of the permanence of marriage and the possibility of divorce; Justin II in a novel of 566 still maintained the traditional view that divorce could be allowed with the agreement of the two partners. The principal changes occurred (probably under the influence of customary law) by the 8th C., and were formulated in the Ecloga. The major aspects of the change were restriction of divorce, strengthening bonds of property within the family, and balancing the rights of the mother and father regarding their children. Later came the prohibition of concubinage.
Church fathers considered marriage a divine institution established for the procreation of children and the prevention of fornication. The consent of the bride and groom, and often of their parents or guardians, was necessary for marriage, although in romances marriages were sometimes performed without parental approval. A formal marriage rite or wedding was required for the conclusion of a marriage; eventually under Alexios I, the distinction between marriage and betrothal was limited. The minimum age for marriage was puberty, reckoned as age 12 for girls and 14 for boys; normally, the husband was older than the wife. Second marriages were permitted (for lay persons), while a third was undesirable and required an epitimion (see Remarriage). The marriage of eunuchs was prohibited by Leo VI, and the marriage of slaves was considered illegal until the 11th C. (see Slavery). There were various marriage impediments, based on reasons of religion, consanguinity, or affinity. Although highly regarded, marriage was considered inferior to virginity, and canon law required celibacy of monks and bishops; second marriages were prohibited for priests.
The metaphor of marriage was frequently used in Byz. imagery: the church was identified as the bride of Christ, and individual women committed themselves in marriage to the immortal bridegroom Christ (Brock-Harvey, Women 71, 165).
Emphasis mine.