Anglo-Saxon Marriages

1
Anglo-Saxon Marriages
2

• Unlike marriages of today, Anglo-Saxon marriages
  and "home life" were just as public and their
  business lives. Therefore, everyone in the
  community knew each other's affairs. If there
  were problems within the marriage, the people of
  the community took it upon themselves to help
  settle the problems. But, more importantly, the
  community did their best to prevent unhappy
  and/or arranged marriages from taking place,
  because it wasn't just the problem of the husband
  and wife, but the problem of the entire
  community.

3

• Gifts at the time of marriage - called morgengifu
  - were occasionally given from husband to wife.
  These gifts were usually large sums of money or
  land. They were considered sole property of the
  wife, she could sell it, trade it, give it away,
  or keep it as she pleased. She also co-owned
  any/all of her husband's property after marriage.
  These gifts were seen as a way to insure men
  didn't mistreat their wives, but if they did, and
  the woman left him, she'd have a way to support
  herself.

4
Women's Rights Within Marriage

• While there were arranged marriages in
  Anglo-Saxon times (especially within those of the
  upper classes,) most marriage contracts were made
  clear that who a woman was marrying was chosen by
  herself, as to a kinsman choosing for her. The
  Law of Cnut stated "neither a widow nor a maiden
  is to be forced to marry a man whom she herself
  dislikes, nor to be given for money, unless he
  chooses to give anything of his own free will."

5

• Cnut's law also specified that if a woman?s
  husband died before they had any children, she
  was entitled to one-third of his land (called
  "dower," under common English law,) plus her
  morgegifu.

• Despite religious expectations, divorce laws were
  considered lax Anglo-Saxon King Ecelbert passed
  specific laws that gave women the right to
  abandon a marriage if she found it "displeasing."

6
Arranged Marriages

• Some unmarried (usually upper class) women in
  Anglo-Saxon times inherited land at birth. This,
  of course, lead to many arranged marriages for
  land. Not only on the bride's side, but also the
  groom's. These arranged marriages started very
  young, before anyone else could arrange the
  marriage and gain land. Sometimes parents
  arranged marriages that were solemnized while
  children were still in cradles. There are many
  cases of eight year olds marrying each other, as
  well as 14 year olds marrying seven year olds.
  Children were considered capable of consent to
  marriage at the age of seven, but marriages could
  be voidable, as long as a girl was under the age
  of 12 and the boy under 14. At these ages, kids
  could be rid of their marriage, but most were
  pressured to into staying in the marriage,
  because of the land opportunities.

7

• Although it sounds like only the males had
  something to gain through these arrangements,
  there were advantages for the females, too.
  Though she had to give up her land to her husband
  during marriage, if her husband died, the wife
  was able to gain her land back and at least
  one-third of her husband's land, under English
  common law "dower." If a young husband died, his
  wife could claim dower at age nine. The husband
  could claim at any age, "albeit he were but four
  years old."

8

• Comparably, peasant women had their marriages
  arranged for them, though were better off than
  those of the upper class. Arranged marriages
  among peasants happened later in life, usually
  when women were in their twenties, and happened
  with men they knew. These marriages weren't
  arranged for land, but for money, cattle, etc.

9
Peace-Weavers

• A specific type of arranged marriage was that of
  a peace-weaver ("fricwebba.")

• The term "peace-weaver" means exactly what it
  says it was the role of a woman (usually a
  noblewoman) to marry someone (usually a nobleman)
  from a rival tribe or clan to weave peace between
  the two groups.

10

• Though not exactly portrayed in the greatest
  light through Anglo-Saxon literature,
  (peace-weavers are usually seen as doomed tragic
  figures who are depressed and weeping all the
  time,) peace-weaving queen was considered an
  ideal role for aristocratic women in Anglo-Saxon
  times. Peace-weavers had more power and influence
  than the average Anglo-Saxon woman. She is the
  sole means of linking two different tribes
  together. By marrying someone from a different
  tribe, she ideally has the power to bring peace
  to both tribes. And, in doing so, she is insuring
  a good future for her children, who are the
  physical proof of these two tribes coming
  together. They had the ability to influence
  decisions made by the king and act 'as
  intermediary between king and warrior, both
  politically and socially.'

11

• The most important job of a peace-weaver is
  (obviously) to become a mother ? just for the
  simple fact that having a child blends the
  bloodlines of the two tribes, physically making
  them one.

• Perhaps the reason that peace-weaving is seen in
  such a negative light in Anglo-Saxon literature
  is the fact that there were so many wars. The
  Anglo-Saxons were a warrior-based people. There
  were wars constantly going on. Logic says that if
  a peace-weaver was doing her job correctly, there
  would be far less wars. Yet, peace-weaving was
  more of a job of tradition, whether or not peace
  was kept.

12
Gender Roles within Marriage

• In marriage, husbands and wives were expected to
  work together ? in all aspects, including
  business. Because of this, there were laws passed
  specifically for women, in a chance of husbands
  committing crimes unknown to their wives. It was
  specified that a wife was "not guilty if property
  stolen by her husband was found unless it was
  under her lock and key 'she must look after the
  keys of the following namely her store room, her
  chest and her coffer.'" Basically, there had to
  be great reasonable proof that a wife was working
  as her husband's accomplice.

13

• Once married, a wife had to be prepared to take
  her husband's place at any moment. Wars often
  broke out, forcing the wife to take over her
  husband's roles. She would become the provider of
  the family and home. It would be her
  responsibility to look after the home and/or
  farm, and see to any repairs that might be
  needed. If her husband became a prisoner, it
  would be up to the wife to collect ransom,
  indulgences, or whatever other source of money
  she could to pay her husband's debt. She would
  also be responsible for any lawsuits that would
  occur and, if needed, become the executor of her
  husband's will.

14
Unmarried Women

• An unmarried Anglo-Saxon woman ("femme sole") had
  the right to do business on her own, without
  husband or man. She was considered 'on par' with
  men. Not only was she able to hold land, but she
  was also able to make wills and contracts, and
  could sue or be sued.