A history of marriage

the long version

A History of Marriage paints an often surprising picture of this most public, yet most intimate, institution, a complex tradition that includes arranged marriages, dowries, same-sex marriages, self-marriages and child brides. The wedding ceremony, too, has worn many faces: 'spousals', common before the mid-twelfth century in western Europe, required no priest, but only the privately proclaimed consent of the couple; the iconic white wedding dress did not emerge until the late eighteenth century and not until Queen Victoria wore a lavish white gown in 1840 did it become truly fashionable.