In the Medieval times, marriage was quite different than today. 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.

Why was marriage considered important during the middle ages?

Besides being a means of property exchange, marriage was also seen - especially by the church - as a means for regulating sexual activity and controlling carnal desire.

What was marriage like for peasants in the middle ages?

The marriages of peasants concerned the lord of the manor. If the women married outside the manor they were to leave the manor of the husband, so the lord would be losing servitude. Most peasant women had marriages arranged for them and one-third were free to choose their husbands.

What age did people marry medieval?

Marriage was the only acceptable place for sex in the medieval period, and as a result Christians were allowed to marry from puberty onwards, generally seen at the time as age 12 for women and 14 for men.

What was the average age of marriage in the Middle Ages?

While the average age at first marriage had climbed to 25 years for women and 27 years for men in England and the Low Countries by the end of the 16th century, and the percentage of unmarried Englishwomen rose from less than 10% to nearly 20% by the mid-17th century and their average age at first marriage rose to 26