In eight pages this paper examines English weddings of the 16th century in a consideration of secular and nonsecular festivity components. Four sources are cited in the bibliography.
Name of Research Paper File: AM2_PPweddng.rtf
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The emphasis of sixteenth century wedding ceremonies in England was essentially split between the sacred components of the ceremony and
the festivities which followed the ceremony. In many ways, it was the latter component of sixteenth century English weddings which left a more indelible impression of the affair than
did the religious ceremony itself. Marriages were, in essence, rights of passage to the English, a fundamental cultural component of life (Cressy 360). Because of their importance there
was often great festivities associated with them. While the non-secular components of the ceremony were typically over in a matter of minutes, the secular components could be quite extensive,
even extending into days after the wedding itself (Cressy 360). The festivities which they included have been the subject of considerable historical and contemporary criticism, however. Much of
this criticism tends to associate these festivities only with the lower classes. The job of the historian should be to clarify this issue and to reveal that, indeed, even
the upper echelons of society were sometimes guilty of the excesses associated with wedding festivities. Despite their integral cultural connection to the rights
of passage associated with weddings, the great wedding celebrations of sixteenth century England were not without their critics. The Church was one of the most adamant of these critics.
This fact is easier to understand when we realize that from the Middle Ages to the time of Reformation, religion was the driving force in philosophy and practically every
other aspect of life. The concept of papal primacy (the belief that the Roman Catholic Church had precedence over other churches and beliefs simply as a God given right)