What are two significant customs concerning marriage during the Middle Ages?

Marriage was mostly a business transaction between families, aristocracy, overlords, etc.. Only the lucky few married for love.








You should really look at the book A Contrarian's History of Marriage. It's in most of the chain bookstores.What are two significant customs concerning marriage during the Middle Ages?
The bride would normally bring a dowry to the marriage, money, goods or land to contribute towards the family economy. It was not absolutely essentail though. A poor peasant's daughter might marry with nothing at all.





The marriage ceremony normally too place in the church porch. The bridegroom named the dower he would provide for his wife, giving her as a token a ring and a sum of money to b edistributed to the poor. The ring, according to a fourteenth-century preacher ';must be put and set by the husband upon the fourth finger of the woman, to show that a true love and cordial affection be between them, because, as doctors say, there is a vein coming from the heart of a woman to the fourth finger, and therrefore the ring is put on the same finger, so that she should keep unity and love with him, and he with her.';





The ceremony was usually followed by a 'bride ale' a feast, in a private house or a tavern. In Warboys and some other manorial village,s the groom was obliged to treat the manorial servants to a dinner with ';bread, beer, meat or fish'; on ';the day on which he takes a wife.';What are two significant customs concerning marriage during the Middle Ages?
'With marriages that took place in the country, generally amongst the poor, and as rings could not be afforded, they would use a coin which was broken and each half kept by the couple. Also, if a groom was not from the local area, would often have to buy drinks for the local young men in return for 'robbing them' of a wife.'
The families would pick the groom and bride without them knowing. that's one. And i guess they did more of a handfasting thing.
Permission from brides father, and the bride had to have a dowry exp... she had to come with money or land and also arranged marriage in order to keep piece among certain clans or country's.