Thanks for this valuable post, Pat.

The only thing I would question--in light of the texts of the various 
iterations of the Book of Common Prayer we've found in this discussion 
as well as the information Randy Cabell provided in his first post 
earlier this morning--is your statement that "it would be odd if 
wedding rings, routinely exchanged back in Britain, would not have been 
exchanged here in an Anglican ceremony."  The information at hand 
suggests that wedding rings were *not* "routinely exchanged back in 
Britain,"--instead, only the woman received a ring.  Your comments on 
the dower symbolism probably explain why that was so.

Best wishes--

--Jurretta

On Feb 28, 2007, at 8:46 AM, Patricia Watkinson wrote:

> This is from a post I sent in to a similar discussion in March 2005:
>
> I can't say for sure that Virginians followed the standard European
>> traditions, but I would imagine they did.  A wedding ring from the
> groom
>> to the bride is an ancient practice. Wedding rings began to be
> routinely
>> exchanged in Britain and the continent at least by the 9th century.
>>
>> I teach European Women's History at Randolph-Macon, and one of the
> points
>> I drill into my students is that the wedding band may be a symbol of
>> eternal (without end) love NOW, but originally, it was a pledge of a
>> marriage jointure, or dower, by the groom to the bride in case of his
>> early death( land, goods, tools, whatever).  Whether she had sole
> control
>> over the dower fluctuated by time period and nation, but the ring was
> the
>> pledge of economic support (the dower), and the exchange was the
> official
>> ceremony, usually held at the outer door of the church.  Afterwards
> they
>> may have gone into church and had a mass.
>>
>> It was not until perhaps the 11th or 12th centuries that the mass
> became the official
>> part of the wedding, and the ceremony was moved inside the church.
> So, it
>> would be odd if wedding rings, routinely exchanged back in Britain,
> would
>> not have been exchanged here in an Anglican ceremony.  As far as
> diamond engagement rings go, I
>> believe that tradition is relatively recent and still not universal,
> even
>> in the U.S.
>>
>> Pat Watkinson
>> Library of Virginia / Randolph-Macon College
>

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