The Power of Eating Together, or the Story of Why Banquets Were the Core of Marriage in the Past

As contemporary European countries progressively developed into semi – or thoroughly laic states, the Church lost the strict control over marriage that it had achieved in the past. In fact, the institution of marriage predates Christianity, and the Church managed to fully christianize it only at the end of the Middle Ages. For a long time, secular and spiritual authorities had disagreed about what made a marriage solemn and valid: the presence of a priest, the location of the wedding, notarial acts, the public expression of consesus, the absence of impediments, etc. This nonetheless, the sources suggest that the core of Western marriage continued to consist of one main traditional practice, among others: the banquet. Wedding banquets had a multi-fold purpose: celebrating the event; strengthening social bonds; displaying the power and prestige of one’s court; publicly expressing the parties’ consent to the union; and publicly reporting impediments. However, they also were occasions where the souls of good Christians or clerics could be infected and corrupted.