As this rule was hard to enforce and subject to abuse the sudden discovery of a long-lost relative might conveniently end a marriage the definitions of incest were changed by the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215, reduced to having a great-great-grandparent in common. Grief was depicted as a cold, malign passion, which made the heart wither and age, hence Charless premonition that he would die young. There were various ways in which a medieval couple could use words or actions to create a marriage. Famous Venician courtesan Veronica Franco. In Chapter Three, we meet the contrasting Forth family, descendants of wealthy Hadleigh clothiers, who acquired substantial landholdings in the early 1500s, and became highly respected members of the Protestant elite. He lives in West Oxfordshire. SparkNotes PLUS Marriages would be arranged to bring prestige or wealth to the family. Everyone wants (and expects) to have children. Especially among the nobility, young men and women hardly had any say in their marriage. Elizabeths suspected adultery brutally deflated Charless fragile sense of manhood, and drove him overseas (p. 235), an outcome which fits with the views of Alexandra Shepard and others. Shakespeare, William. So, in conclusion during Elizabethan era love was given no importance as it was considered akin to sin and marriages were usually a business arrangement. Here we also encounter private journals and scenes from ordinary marriages, with complaints of women's fashions, bossy wives and domineering husbands. 2nd ed. Sally Dixon-Smith is Historic Royal Palaces' collections curator at the Tower of London and has written a chapter on marriage for Ian Johnsons Geoffrey Chaucer in Context (Cambridge University Press, 2016). Many of their viewpoints were substantiated from their dominant influence of Christianity, whether Protestant or Catholic. The Protestant Reformation also played a role in redefining marriage. The men were expected to support the family from a whole variety of occupations. Elizabethan England | The British Library Elizabethan attitudes to love and marriage, Courtship Marriages and Divorces During Elizabethan Era. The only trades legally available to women were those that could be mastered and practiced in the home, such as hat making and brewing. Disobedience was seen as a crime against their religion. For instance, families of landowners were expected to marry just to attain land possession. Women were required to be subservient to their husbands and to men in general. Continue to start your free trial.