The development of marriage in the era of revival and reformation

In the Middle Ages, the social mobility of people was insignificant. People were born and died by representatives of a certain class and practically had no opportunity to change their position. Only with the beginning of the period of cultural and intellectual development of the country of Western and Central Europe, known as the Renaissance, or Renaissance, could one try to acquire some elements of personal freedom in various spheres of life. The main feature of the Renaissance, which began around the XV century and lasted for two centuries( XV-XVII century), was humanism. People learned to think, and to think in a new way. Reflecting, they faced contradictions, distortions of the truth, which was preached by political and ecclesiastical authorities.

Despite the fact that in the Renaissance the marriage was still a financial and economic agreement, new sexual and spiritual trends appeared. Some identified the woman with Eve, with her sinful and carnal beginning, while others considered the woman close to the embodiment of the symbol of purity and holiness, identified her with the Immaculate Virgin.

Women from the upper classes of society enjoyed a new freedom. Without a sense of guilt and fear, they gradually began to dress in erotic outfits, use cosmetics, began attending educational institutions. With the development of book printing, books became ever more accessible, not only ecclesiastical, but also secular, so that self-education was possible not only for persons of spiritual rank, but also for all literate people. New freedoms have given rise to new thoughts. People for the first time since antiquity began to feel themselves as persons with certain rights.

However, in those days for women there was another side of life. Not all women are free. Some women were called witches. They organized a hunt. What was the charge against them? First of all, they are like "sinful Eve" and full of lust. Witch-hunting often became a "diversion" for the dark masses, at times it was a very convenient tool in the hands of husbands who did not see another opportunity to get rid of unwanted wives.

In the 15th century, a broad social movement arose in Western and Central Europe, partly coinciding with the Renaissance and reflecting the dynamism of that era. This movement went down in history under the name "Reformation".First of all, it took the form of a struggle against the Catholic Church.

One of the results of the Reformation was the separation of the Protestant church from the Roman Catholic one. Another is the change in the laws on marriage. The Reformer in Germany Martin Luther( 1483-1546) opposed the traditional sacrament of marriage, believed that the purpose of marriage is the birth of children and the joint life of the spouses in mutual faithfulness.

In the XV century in Germany, Holland, Scandinavia and Scotland began to spread the view of marriage as a spiritual unity of husband and wife. Legislation reaffirmed the woman's right to remarriage, if, for example, her husband changes her. In England, this view was recognized two hundred years later.

However, one of the leading figures of the Reformation, Jean Calvin( 1509-1564), was less humane than some of his predecessors. He believed that an illegitimate union between a man and a woman should be cursed. Marriage, in his opinion, is given to people from above, in order to curb lust. Spouses warned: you can not poison your relationship with unbridled, self-indulging passion. According to Calvin, in marriage there should not be room for pleasure, joy, sensuality. This opinion and in our time finds sympathy among many supporters of Calvinism.