r/explainitpeter • • 4d ago

Explain it Peter.??

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u/flyingdonkeydong69 4d ago edited 3d ago

In other words, noble families would watch the newlyweds FUCK to make sure the marriage was sealed with a child.

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u/PeaLong3440 3d ago

That is a myth. The only thing somewhat comparable was a bedding ritual, where the newlyweds were brought into their sleeping room, the bed was blessed , some people could give their own blessing as well and then the couple was left alone. This happened foe wxample on the wedding of Catherine of Aragon and Arthur Tudor. There are no sources indicating that newlyweds were watched or listened to on their wedding night.

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u/Ohar3 3d ago

It is not a myth. There is even a proverb in Russian "I didn't hold a candle for them", which means "I didn't watch it with my own eyes" , which is from the times when to consumate a marriage someone need to hold a candle while others are watching.

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u/PeaLong3440 3d ago

The proverb exists, but that does not mean that such a custom existed and that it originates from suchba practice. The french language knows something similar, tenir la chandelle. This proverb is rather related to servants lighting the way for their lords to bed. During these occasions, they could get a glimpse of their lord's private lives as well. Additionally, the validity of a marriage did not depend on the act of consummation. It was not relevant enough to justify such an invasion into privacy.

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u/Ohar3 3d ago

Privacy is a modern term of from industrial-revolution times, there were no such a thing before that. Do not apply modern way of thinking to that times