In the Medieval times, marriage was

In the Medieval times, marriage was quite different than today. Women didn't have a choice as to who they would marry and, most of the time, women didn't even know the man before they wed.

However, men were sometimes able to choose their bride. Marriage back then was not based on love; most marriages were political arrangements. Husbands and wives were generally strangers until they first met. If love was involved at all, it came after the couple had been married. Even if love did not develop through marriage, the couple generally developed a friendship of some sort.

The arrangement of marriage was done by the children's parents. In the middle ages, children were married at a young age. Girls were as young as 12 when they married, and boys as young as 17. The arrangement of the marriage was based on monetary worth. The family of the girl who was to be married gives a dowry, or donation, to the boy she is to marry. The dowry goes with her at the time of the marriage and stays with the boy forever.

After the marriage was arranged, a wedding notice was posted on the door of the church. The notice was put up to ensure that there were no grounds for prohibiting the marriage. The notice stated who was to be married, and if anyone knew any reasons the two could not marry they were to come forward with the reason. If the reason was a valid one, the wedding would be prohibited.

There were several reasons for prohibiting a marriage. One reason was consanguinity, meaning the couple was too closely related. If the boy or the girl had taken a monastic or religious vow, the marriage was than also prohibited. Other reasons that prohibited marriage, but were not grounds for a divorce, were rape, adultery and incest. A couple could also not be married during a time of fasting, such as lent or advent, and a couple not be married by someone who had killed someone.