In Europe, prior to the twelfth century, marriage was purely a social
thing.
Neither state nor religious sanctioning was available.
From the twelfth
to the sixteenth century, marriage was the purview of
the religious
authorities. The state had nothing to do with the institution.
Even
after Martin Luther telling the princes that they should be the ones
under
whose purview marriage forms, states were reluctant to get
involved in
it.
It was only after WW1, that governments used "protection of
children" as
a rational for controlling marriage. Traditionally, the state has
only
wanted children for use as canon fodder.
Historically, it has been
the church that looked after the welfare of
children, not the state. More
precisely, it has been churches that are not
part of the government apparatus,
that has been concerned about the
protection of children.
As far as the
United States goes, the state took control of marriage as a
direct result of
Jim Crow laws, and the enforced segregation enforced by
the North, upon the
South. [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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