"Marriage consume": as it was in ancient times and the significance of this fact

As you know, marriage is a certain wayformalized relationship between a man and a woman. This can be both legal registration in the registry office, and the civil union, which is also recognized by modern legislation.

Traditions of recognizing the fact of marriage in antiquity

Probably very few people heard the expression "marriage"In the past centuries, according to historians, the role of the first wedding night between a woman and a man was important.Why? Because the term" consummation "from the Latin language is translated as" completion. "Under this point and usually meant the first sexual intercourse between husband and wife.

What does it mean to consummate a marriage?

The process of marriage was previously divided intoseveral different stages. In aristocratic circles, weddings were held between minors. Of course, we do not say this about some vulgarity of people in this circle, because even with the conclusion of such marriage, there was no talk about sexual relations between minors. It was believed that such unions would guarantee the strengthening of the political or economic influence of the families of the brachy in certain territories.

According to tradition and legislation, the first sexualrelations could be officially held only after the coming of age of both spouses. The fact of sexual intercourse should have been fixed.

The complexity of this point was thatintimate relationships very few people like to demonstrate in public. The spouses knew that tomorrow their marriage was being summed up, so they should have been prepared for this sacred moment. The process of fixation was as follows. Usually, near the bed stood witnesses who actually observed this action. In the eastern tradition, a sacred rite with candles and guards was organized, which closed the windows of the room, fighting the forces of "evil." The spiritual essence of the rite was that before that the husband and wife were in the status of the family only before the state, the law, and now their status is approved by the god, because they finally physically unite in one. In ancient Greece, there was not necessarily the presence of witnesses during the time that the marriage is consummated. The newlyweds on the morning after the first wedding night were simply shown to those who fixed the consummation, the bloodstained sheets. It was the fact of the presence of blood on the sheets and said that the nevon tonight was devoid of virginity by her husband.

The value of marriage consummation for the family

For the fortress of family relationships, physicalthe party of marriage relations is of the greatest importance. The first wedding night, the unification of the husband and wife into one whole is an event that gives hope that the marriage will be lasting and strong. The family's task is that the spouses must live a long and happy family life, having brought up worthy children. A weak family will not be able to fulfill such a social mission, so the absence of regular sexual relations between husband and wife is even now considered in many countries as an important reason for divorce. There is an opinion that there is no spiritual unity in such a family, this means that this social unit is not capable, that is, it can not reach the most important and qualitative social result in the form of education of really worthy and morally strong children.

Conclusion

So, we have reviewed this articlehistorical retrospective and the meaning of the concept of "marriage consume." Many readers probably did not even hear such a phrase. We have understood what is meant by a consummated marriage. Such an alliance is the marriage of a married couple, between whose members have already had sexual intercourse.