Pat:

What a wonderful explanation of the custom of the groom giving the bride a
wedding ring.   Was the custom of the bride giving a ring to  the groom  a
much later custom and did it have a different significance?  or was it
observed early on to represent some agreement on her part regarding the
dower?

Loretta
----- Original Message -----
From: "Patricia Watkinson" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, March 25, 2005 9:34 AM
Subject: Re: wedding rings


> John,
>
> 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
> for 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 a century or two later 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.  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
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history on behalf
> of [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Fri 3/25/2005 10:06 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Cc:
> Subject: wedding rings
>
>
>
> One of our docents asked an interesting question:
>   In general, when did the modern practice* of wedding rings (left hand,
> engagement and wedding bands, etc) develop?
>   Specifically, were wedding rings used in late 18th-century Virginia? If
> so, how common were they?
>
> Jon Kukla
>
> *20th-c skillful marketing practices by DeBoors in South Africa certainly
> helped create expectations and a market.....
>
>
>
> Dr. Jon Kukla, Executive Vice-President
> Red Hill - The Patrick Henry National Memorial
> 1250 Red Hill Road
> Brookneal, Virginia 24528
> www.redhill.org
> Phone 434-376-2044 or 800-514-7463
>
> Fax 434-376-2647
>
> - M. Lynn Davis, Office Manager
> - Karen Gorham-Smith, Associate Curator
> - Edith Poindexter, Curator
>
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