Sursa imaginii: https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/17th-century-portrait-married-couple.html?sortBy=relevant
Autor: prof. Bogdan Georgiana
The consent age for marriage in the Middle Ages in England was 14 for boys and 12 for girls and the marriage was mostly a business deal to secure the wealth and the social positions of the families. The age changes in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as girls were given consent to marry at 20 or 23, while for boys it was 23 to 26, according to Lawrence Stone (40), in „The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800”. With the beginning of the early modern period, more and more marriages were based on love and affection and drama, which dealt with the subject of love, had a great contribution to this fact. Love was the center of attention in most of William Shakespeare’s plays, and it reached its highest point with „Romeo and Juliet”. Poets of the time wrote about love and affection and forgot the subjects which had been dealt with up to that point. This affection was also noticeable in the diaries and the letters which had been found.
Arranged marriages were still a common thing, especially for the nobles, as they saw it as the best solution to keep the family wealth, and the social status and they were also seen as important determinations of the social and political context. So, the families had to make sure that things remained unchanged from this point of view. Some parents even made sure to name a future husband for their daughters in case of their deaths. Girls suffered a lot because of this attitude as they were seen as an inferior sex and did not have too much power to fight the decisions made by the men in their families or freedom to express their opinions. Things were different with respect to boys, who enjoyed a different treatment due to the way men were perceived by society and also because of the rule of the primogeniture. The elder brothers were generally married based on agreements with other families, while their younger brothers enjoyed more freedom but less financial benefits.
In nowadays Romania, the majority of the couples who choose to get married do it because they love each other, they feel respect and admiration, they enjoy spending their time together and they trust one another. At the beginning, marriage was seen mostly as a civil act but, because of the influence from the church, it has also become influenced by religious factors. In catholic countries, the church had the main influence with respect to marriage but, after the French constitution stated that the marriage was a civil act, Romanians used this example and the public officers were entitled to perform marriage ceremonies. This form is accepted by contemporary society without necessarily having the ceremony held in church.
The status of marriage is stipulated in law books and it presents the general rules of making it legally accepted by state representatives and members of society. Firstly, the marriage act is a consensual act between two people who will respect each other and will not engage in extra-conjugal relationships. Secondly, the marriage will take place in a specific institution, performed by a state representative, at a specific date and time, and with witnesses. Thirdly, once the civil act is completed, the couple can have the religious service, but this is not more important than the civil part.
In addition, marriage is seen as being an act for the rest of the two people’s lives and it is based on equality between the two partners and the fair treatment of each other. What is more, the final purpose of marriage is that of forming a family, which means that the couple is expected to have children; marriage is protected by law, as it offers the basis for building a family, which is also seen as the base unit of society in general. No person can be forced to be married against their will and the legal age for the marriage to take place is 18 for boys and 16 for girls. The institution of marriage in Romania is protected by the new Civil Code, which was enforced in October, 2011, including the aspects mentioned above.
WORKS CITED
Stone, Lawrence. The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800. New York: Harper & Row, 1977
Popescu, Raluca. ” Profilul familiei românești contemporane.” Calitatea Vieții XXI, 2010
