weddings-msg - 1/10/08
Period and SCA weddings.
NOTE: See also the files: weddings-e-art, p-weddings-bib, wed-FAQ, wed-attire-FAQ, beadwork-msg, silk-msg, p-bibles-msg, religion-msg, herbs-msg.
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NOTICE -
This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.
This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org
I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.
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Thank you,
Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous
Stefan at florilegium.org
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From: CONS.ELF at AIDA.CSD.UU.SE ("]ke Eldberg")
Date: 11 Apr 90 05:21:36 GMT
Organization: Society for Creative Anachronism
Greetings from William de Corbie!
A gentle whose name I have forgotten asked on the net for information about
medieval wedding ceremonies. I am researching that subject, hoping that it
might result in an article for T.I. sometime in the future. Here are a few
items from the material I have gathered.
Pagan and Medieval wedding rituals - a brief outline
Copyright (C) 1990 by Ake Eldberg
There is no such thing as *The* Medieval Roman Catholic wedding ceremony.
Practices varied from country to country and even from see to see. Marriage
is not a Christian invention. When Europe was Christianized, the church had
to deal with a wide variety of local customs formed by other faiths and
traditions Q Celtic, Norse, Latin. The Germanic pagans didn't think of
matrimony as a sacrament. To them, it was a legal contract between two
families. Even a long time after the they had been converted to Chritianity,
it was often difficult to make people understand the need for a Christian
wedding service.
The "pagan" ceremonies were mostly juridical and only peripherally connected
to religion. The church couldn't simply replace the old rituals with one of
its own. So the church absorbed everything that was not directly contrary to
Christian faith, and incorporated these traditions into its ceremonies.
I will try to describe how a medieval wedding might have been done in
Scandinavia, but you should be aware that local customs may have been
different where your persona comes from.
Weddings before Christianity
The juridical procedure in Norse society was complicated, but three
ceremonial actions seem to have been necessary to make the marriage
complete:
1. Engagement, which meant that the man and the woman were promised to each
other. This was part of the deal, and economic compensation was necessary
if one side wanted to break the engagement.
2. Wedding, where the bride was formally given to the bridegroom by her
guardian, usually her father. This was done at a feast in the bridegroom's
home. "I give thee my daughter" was the formula spoken by the guardian.
3. Bedding, where the couple went to bed together in the presence of
witnesses. This was not a pornographic "live show"! The witnesses left
before any sexual action began. But the fact that the couple had gone to
bed together was firmly established.
With Christianity came a different perspective. Marriage was now a
sacrament, instituted by God and therefore something that concerned both
church and society outside the two families. Mutual consent was demanded,
and the husband was expected to be faithful. These were new ideas.
Medieval wedding ceremonies
The first part of the ceremony took place outside the church door. At
cathedrals with several entrances, there was usually a designated "bridal
door" for this. The actions done there corresponded to the functions of the
old germanic ceremony. Even though it was now led by a priest, it was
essentially a secular act by which the union of the families was confirmed.
When people had arrived at the church door, the men were placed on the right
side and the women on the left. If the bride was a virgin, her hands were
bare. If she was a widow, she wore gloves. In some countries the most
important parts were conducted in the vernacular, in others everything was
in Latin. In the latter case, the priest would read the words that the bride
and bridegroom were supposed to repeat.
The ceremony at the church door began with the mutual consent of the man
and the woman. The priest asked the man if he would take the woman for his
wife. The man replied "Yes", and then turned to the woman and said: "I
take thee, N. now to be my wife, in the name of the Lord". The same was
then repeated for the woman.
Next, the priest blessed the ring. Only one ring was used, given by the man
to the woman. The ring was sprinkled with holy water, the bridegroom took
the ring and moved it so that it came to be placed in turn on the bride's
thumb, index finger and long finger - where it stayed. This was accompanied
by the priest (or the bridegroom) saying: "In the name of the Father - and
the Son - and the Holy Spirit". Non-Scandinavian rituals have different
wordings and movements, where the ring would end on what we call the ring
finger.
Now the priest would bless the couple, after which the whole party moved
into the church. According to some rituals, the couple held burning candles
in their hands during the procession.
Inside, a "bridal mass" was celebrated. It consisted of prayers, hymns,
bible reading, antiphonals, and culminated in the solemn bridal benediction.
The couple kneeled at the altar and a fine piece of cloth (called a "paell"
in Swedish) was held over them by four unmarried people. The blessing of
the bride included many words from the Old Testament, particularly the
apocryphic book of Tobias. It included wishes that she should be good to
her husband like Rachel, wise like Rebecca, and faithful like Sarah. Let
her be fertile, chaste and innocent, and let them both live to see their
offspring to the third and fourth generation. The bridal benediction is
very old - the first known example is from the 5th century.
After this benediction a mass (communion) followed. The ritual kissing of
the bride belongs here, at the moment of the kiss of peace. The priest
kissed the bridegroom, who kissed the bride, and then the bride passed the
kiss on to the women while an assistant cleric brought it from the priest
to the male side of the church (of course the men were on the south side
and the women on the north side in the nave).
Interestingly enough, the formula "I now pronounce you man and wife" was
not used everywhere. It occurs in late period German and French rituals,
but there is evidence that in older times, the priest left the confirmation
of the marriage to God: "May the God of Abraham, Isac and Jacob unite youI"
Afterwards, in the evening, there was the bedding. The Church adopted this
pagan custom and converted it from a juridical act into a blessing of the
matrimonial bed.
Remember also that medieval wedding gowns were usually not white, as far as
I know.
I hope some of the above may be of use to you. If you want a medieval
wedding, I suggest that you choose such medieval elements that are
compatible with your faith and that are practically feasible, and try to
incorporate them into whatever modern ritual your church is using. Having
parts of the liturgy sung in Latin will help to give you a medieval feeling.
William de Corbie
-------
From: whh at PacBell.COM (Wilson Heydt)
Date: 30 Aug 90 23:17:58 GMT
Organization: Pacific * Bell, San Ramon, CA
In article <9008291635.AA20875 at well.sf.ca.us>, well!jeannec at APPLE.COM ("Jeanne
C. Stapleton") writes:
PURGATORIO: I'd also like to mention, 'cause I didn't see it in Hal's
Purgatorio report, that Lord Iulstan Sigewealding and his lady, Juturna the
Musical, both received Leaves of Merit from James and Verena in their final
court. Vivat and well deserved!
I think another item about these two has been missed as well. They were
married at the end of June. Full blown SCA wedding and feast. As a very
nice touch for the wedding feast, they got a lot of wooden plates for the
feast and then gifted them to the wedding guests afterwards.
--Hal
Hal Ravn, Province of the Mists, West Kingdom
Wilson H. Heydt, Jr., Albany, CA 94706, 415/524-8321 (home)
=======================================================================
From: atterlep at vela.acs.oakland.edu (Eldon F. Zyzyskuzuk)
Date: 12 Nov 90 23:34:06 GMT
Organization: Oakland University, Rochester MI
In article <29955.273B7965 at stjhmc.fidonet.org> Yves.Fortan
er at f510.n370.z1.fidonet.org (Yves Fortanier) writes:
Good gentles, why are there 'SCA weddings'? If you've had one or
performed one, what was the purpose? If like Brian, you don't like
them, why not? Are they at least tolerable if they're entertaining?
In my experience with SCA weddings, they're done mainly because, in many
cases, many or most of the close friends of the couple are Scadians. Since SCA takes so much of so many people's lives, it seems natural that they would share marriage as they share so much else. As Baron Kevin recently commented, SCA is a family and a major purpose of the marriage ceremony is to have a family gathering.
The most innovative way I ever saw of dealing with a SCA marriage is to make
it into an event. Two of our group's oldest members (one has been to EVERY
Pennsic War) were marrying, and so we decided to incorporate their marriage
into our regular summer event. The flyers sent out mentioned the "signing of
the marrige contract" as a major event in the day, and the mundane families of
bride and groom were decked out in garb (which they acquired on their own).
It was a lot of fun, but a huge amount of work (most of the group, myself
included missed the ceremony because feast began immediately afterward.)
It made for a nice touch and was definitely a lot of fun. (And it was period, too!)
From: jerbil at nntp-server.caltech.edu (Joseph R. Beckenbach)
Date: 12 Nov 90 19:52:13 GMT
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Unto the gentles of the Rialto, greetings!
Yves.Fortanier at f510.n370.z1.fidonet.org (Yves Fortanier) writes:
Good gentles, why are there 'SCA weddings'? If you've had one or
performed one, what was the purpose? If like Brian, you don't like
them, why not? Are they at least tolerable if they're entertaining?
In Caid I have heard of a few, all of which were either The Real
Vows between two members with active SCA families on both sides (and thus
LOTS of SCA friends), or a second ceremony to share the joy with their SCA
friends after having the civil or church ceremony for the non-SCA friends.
The only related happenings I have witnessed have been 'hand-fastings'
held after Opening Court, which formalized an engagement for the traditional
Scottish 'year and a day'. Those have all specifically been announced in
Court as being "ten minutes after the end of Court" in a different pavilion
than that of Court, and that people are invited to witness if they chose.
Such hand-fastings usually are quite well witnessed, and not only by
friends of the two principals involved.... A gorgeous little ceremony.
In service,
Joseph d'Aquitaine
From: bloch at mandrill.ucsd.edu (Steve Bloch)
Date: 17 Nov 90 02:48:58 GMT
Yves.Fortanier at f510.n370.z1.fidonet.org (Yves Fortanier) writes:
Good gentles, why are there 'SCA weddings'? If you've had one or
performed one, what was the purpose? If like Brian, you don't like
them, why not? Are they at least tolerable if they're entertaining?
A month or two ago two gentles of the Barony were wed. They scheduled
the 20th-century (I'm hesitant to use "mundane" for a wedding!)
ceremony for 5 PM, the SCA ceremony for 7 PM, and the reception and
semi-potluck feast immediately thereafter. Both ceremonies were held
at one of our regular event sites, and everyone changed clothes in
between (the couple's non-SCA relatives and guests were provided with
adequate garb). The whole thing was not an intrusion on an SCA event,
it was effectively an SCA event of its own, though not announced in
Kingdom newsletters.
It is traditional in this Barony for a gentleman to go to the Baron
and Baroness to request permission to court such-and-such lady (unwed
ladies being by assumption wards of Their Excellencies), and after some
months to return to ask Their Excellencies' permission to wed. This
request is followed by lengthy haggling over brideprice and/or dowry,
after which arrangements for the wedding are made. The aforementioned
wedding had all this (over the course of a year or two), as well as
some very good-theatre gift-givings, drinking-from-the-same-cup, etc.
culminating in a running jump over a crossed sword and broom. After
which it was time to eat, and then dance.
This wedding was done very well, and I believe all present (including
the dozens of non-SCA folk) enjoyed it immensely.
--
Stephen Bloch
Joshua ibn-Eleazar ha-Shalib
sca>Caid>Calafia>St.Artemas
bloch at cs.ucsd.edu
From: BERDANJ at YALEVM.BITNET (Amoret of Dragonship Haven)
Date: 29 Jan 91 14:43:03 GMT
Organization: The Internet
Greetings to the Rialto!
In answer to the question of Yaakov HaMizrachi <lawbkwc at buacca.bitnet>
regarding appropriate colors for period wedding attire in Europe and the lands
of Islam:
The modern "white wedding" is a Victorian development (and an upper-class one at that). In Europe at least, period wedding dress would simply be the best
outfits the couple had. While it might have been made specifically for the wedding, it would be expected to serve as their "dress-up" clothes until it
wore out. No particular color was mandated; whatever is apprpriate in period,
but fancier. (I.e., peasants would not be dressed in black, since they could
not have gotten the color, etc.)
I am less certain about Muslim dress. My only suggestion comes from my
viewing of a recent museum exhibit on Saudi costume, which included several
wedding outfits. They were several different colors; a shocking-pink one
comes to mind. The common denominator was that all were dripping with as much jewelry and decoration as could be managed. I would suspect that the
important
part was not color, but how much wealth the bride could manage to show off at
her wedding. I will gladly be enlightened if someone knows differently.
Amoret of Dragonship Haven
mka Susan de Guardiola
TO: Ravenwing
FROM: Da'ud Al-haqq
SUBJECT: Weddings
-> In the midst of a rare brain-idea collision, Ravenwing said to All:
->
-> RR>" One of the members of our Barony is planning to do a
-> RR>"13th c British wedding service in late July, but he is
-> RR>"having difficulty locating an authentic period text of the
-> RR>"service. Can anyone out there help out. I don't even know
-> RR>"where to send him to try to look something like that up.
.
Britain in the 1200's would probably have confined all of its "gentle"
wedding services to Church liturgy, with Norman overtones to be sure. The
less-than-gentle services, say those of Northern England or Wales might
have a measure more fun in them, though, with pre-Norman Danelaw and
Celtic commonfolk traditions involved.
---
* Origin: Don't be nervous or I'll have you beheaded! (1:135/99)
TO: Cadi
FROM: Da'ud Al-haqq
SUBJECT: Weddings
-> CC>"And so, what would those Celtic commonfolk traditions have
-> CC>"consisted of?
Specifics vary from area to area in the British countryside, from morris
dancing to May poles, all of which are ceremonies for personal fertility
(and weddings are linked to the agricultural fertility ceremonies) as well
as calendar events. There are songs, dances, and feasts that all have
peculiarities of the villages which performed them. No single rule
of what they consist of applies to all, but you may wish to research these
in the folklore section of a good college library.
---
* Origin: Don't be nervous or I'll have you beheaded! (1:135/99)
From: dolata at lead.uazaic.arizona.edu (Dolata)
Date: 14 Jul 91 22:15:13 GMT
Organization: University of Arizona AI Chemistry Lab, Tucson, AZ
Dearest Gentles,
If I may be allowed to insert a comment about tailoring fees;
In 1982 my Dear Lady and I decided to be wed in Rennaisance fashion.
We hired Dorothy Breen (daughter of Marion Zimmer Bradly) as our seamstress.
We bought the material, and paid her for the immense amout of work necessary
to construct two very authentic Court Dress of the style of the court of
Henry VIII of England.
At that time the cost was about $500. Apart from two small problems,
the clothing has served us well and faithfully through the years. (Problem
#1, the sleeves on her dress were not 100% correct. Problem #2, where DID
these 25 extra pounds come from????) Over these years we have come to feel
that the fees were modest, and a good investment. After all, nowadays I
spend about 2/3 of that just on a boring 2 piece pin-stripe suit!
Yes, the cost of tailoring may seem very high. But good material
and good craftsmenship will last, and if you amortize that over 20 years...
the cost becomes minimal.
I hope you receive as good as of value as we did, and remain
Yours in Service
Thomas Ignatius Perigrinus
Minister of Arts and Sciences (brewing! now there's an art I
College of St. Felix can support!!!!)
From: BERDANJ at YALEVM.BITNET (Alejandra Mercedes de Rosanegra)
Date: 22 Aug 91 13:08:03 GMT
Organization: The Internet
Greetings to the Rialto and to Alessandra Francesca Chiarmontesi (who has a
nice first name!)
In regards to the query as to information on Italian Renaissance (especially
Venetian) weddings, information on marriage itself in Venice may be found in
both:
_Civic Ritual in Renaissance Venice_ by Edward Muir ISBN 0-691-10200-7
_The Boundaries of Eros_ by Guido Ruggiero ISBN 0-19-505696-5
Among other things, it seems that whether one was actually married or not was
a bit unclear to many, particularly among the lower classes; rather like modern
common-law marriage.
A description of a mid-fifteenth-century Florentine wedding ceremony may be
found in
_Giovanni and Lusanna_ by Gene Brucker ISBN 0-520-06328-7
but it is a description of a somewhat clandestine marriage (and the book
focuses on the resulting "palimony" suit filed by Lusanna against Giovanni.)
Hope this is of assistance!
Alejandra Mercedes de Rosanegra
From: whheydt at PacBell.COM (Wilson Heydt)
Date: 22 Oct 91 18:40:17 GMT
Organization: Pacific * Bell, San Ramon, CA
In article <9110211929.aa20656 at mc.lcs.mit.edu>, BERDANJ at YALEVM.BITNET (Alejandra) writes:
Did
those of you who are attached meet your spouse/whatever through the SCA?
I met my Lady Wife at the first event I attended. We were married
about 14 months later at one of the earliest SCA weddings.
--Hal
Hal Ravn, Province of the Mists, West Kingdom
Wilson H. Heydt, Jr., Albany, CA 94706, 415/524-8321 (home)