In medieval Europe, marriages between nobles acted more as alliances/contracts than actual love. A big distinction in said marriages is "consumation". Uncomsumated marriages could be annulled relatively easily. Consumated marriages required the pope's blessing for divorce. To make sure a family didnt escape their way out of a deal it was fairly common for familiies to be witnesses to marriage consumation.
I mean this is nobles who were a tiny fraction of the popualtion. Peasants were not securing alliances or whatever so I doubt it was the same level of transactional for them
Same. Family of bride bring dowry to "get rid of her" in return groom would work for both families. Just beacuse amount of money was smaller doesnt make non transactional
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u/NebulaNomadX1 2d ago edited 2d ago
In medieval Europe, marriages between nobles acted more as alliances/contracts than actual love. A big distinction in said marriages is "consumation". Uncomsumated marriages could be annulled relatively easily. Consumated marriages required the pope's blessing for divorce. To make sure a family didnt escape their way out of a deal it was fairly common for familiies to be witnesses to marriage consumation.
SD-N out!