9. Even the poorest peasants would celebrate village weddings, with some parties lasting for a whole week
For the Medieval nobility, weddings were lavish affairs. Vast sums of money would be spent on the ceremony as well as on the celebrations that inevitably followed. What’s more, they were almost always complex events, too: in many cases, they were political unions rather than romantic ones, and they might even descend into violence. Peasant weddings, however, were much simpler affairs. But that doesn’t mean they were insignificant: in a peasant village in the Middle Ages, a wedding might still be the social event of the year and an occasion for the whole community to come together and party.
Right up until the later stages of the Medieval period, the Church played hardly any role in peasant marriages, however much it might have tried. Quite simply, if a couple declared themselves married, they were. In many cases, they might exchange vows in front of friends or family, but no priest was required. Neither did a peasant couple need the blessing of their local nobleman to get wed. What’s more, the idea that the local Lord had a ‘first night right’ to a peasant bride and would be the one to take her virginity is almost completely untrue – indeed, some historians have argued that this idea only really emerged in the Victorian era.
Up until around the 12th century, most peasant marriages were so-called ‘secular’ unions. That is, they didn’t need to be consummated to be deemed valid (a belief that helped explain how Mary and Joseph could be married but have had a son to a virgin birth). After this point, however, a union needed to be consummated. So, after the vows had been exchanged, the couple would retire to their marriage bed.
This was often the source of much entertainment for the rest of the village. While the newlyweds were busy getting to know one another more intimately, their fellow peasants would shout useful ‘tips’ through the thin wooden or mud walls, plus they might also sing naughty songs to get the couple ‘in the mood’. Of course, all of this was usually accompanied by drinking and dancing, even if few peasants could afford to feast like nobles. In some cases, a village might party for several days, but only if the peasants could take time away from working the land.