Susan, I don't know if anyone's mentioned this yet: Chaucer's description
of the Wife of Bath in the General Prologue supports this: "Husbondes at
chirche dore she hadde five," (GP 460). The note to this line says that
the legally binding pledge took place at the church door in the presence
of witnesses, followed by a nuptial mass inside the church. Margulies, MS
24, 1962, 210-16, and Roberson, ChR 14:403-20 are cited as further
references.
Laurel Broughton
University of Vermont
On Mon, 24 Nov 1997, Susan Carroll-Clark wrote:
> Greetings!
>
> >None mentions marriage in front of a church.
>
> That's because it's not *technically* part of the rite of marriage as
> per canon law, but rather custom and tradition, and eventually (in England)
> subsumed under common law (I'd actually have to check Bracton to see if
> it's mentioned, but I believe it is). As I think I mentioned, strictly
> speaking, the Church required two things for a valid marriage (so long
> as the man and woman have no impediment, such as consanguinity): the vow,
> and the consummation.
>
> I'm not sure how widespread the custom was outside of England, in fact,
> but it was certainly "the standard way" there.
>
> Cheers--
> Susan Carroll-Clark
>
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