Weddings&courtships+Facts+11-15

Back to Weddings & Courtship Women had virtually no role in choosing her husband. In most parts of Europe, starting a household and beginning married life were essentially the same thing. All religions agreed on the value of marriage to prevent sinful sexual behavior. By the end of the 17th century, Betrothal was losing its central place. A marriage in the Renaissance was merely a business arrangement.
 * Propertied classes, most marriages were arranged by a women's male kin.
 * Upper classes ladies, married a guy their father picked for them
 * Age never mattered in a marriage back then.
 * Marriage alliances between rulling families sealed peace treaties and sometimes created empires.
 * Marriage was a spiritual and respected institution.
 * The Roman Catholic Church in 1439 declared a sacrament, or religious obligation on marriage.
 * Protestants believed a marriage was a relationship singularly blessed by God.
 * Betrothal bound a couple in a relationship that could only be broken by a mutual consent, which was suppose to be as public as the betrothal.
 * A betrothal was not a marriage.
 * It was never about love, like it is in today's society.