Same-sex marriage as such in our society is a contemporary possibility; however, it is not so recent when you look at the examples of history to date. An example is adelphopoiesis, the term by which same-sex legal marriages were known in history. Average ages.
Homosexual relationships throughout history have been no exception. While it is true that the best-known custom is paedolystia in ancient Greece, when teachers and students maintained relationships that went beyond educational learning, at other times in history there were same-sex couples in adulthood, consolidated and socially accepted. .
- GK Chesterton said that “architects know all about the romantic style except how to build it.
- “Does it look like in other times there were people capable of architecture?intimate same-sex relationships and allows romanticism to prevail.
- Although that was not the most common dynamic in this type of relationship.
Does this mean that homosexuality and homosexual relations have always been accepted?Of course not. Although we know adelphopoiesis and other similar rituals in ancient Rome or the Chinese Empire, this has never been commonplace.
“I am not, in fact, trying to understand to believe, but to believe to understand. So I believe that, because if I did not, I would not understand” -Saint Anselm of Canterbury-
As you can imagine, the main objective of adelphopoiesis was not to bring two people together in the romantic sense of the word, however, both religiously and legally, the relationship between two men (most of the time) and sometimes also between two women was recognized. with the acceptance of the Church.
Therefore, it was not seen as a marriage in itself, but as a union that required both parties to take care of themselves, so they shared life, property, tasks, jobs and even family. one party dies, the other undertakes to continue caring for the relatives of the deceased.
As in a conventional marriage, both same-sex people promised fidelity to death, however, the practice allowed them to share everything, even being buried together until death, but did not explicitly allow romantic love.
However, although it is not a romantic union, but a kind of legal tool, it seems that sexual intercourse was not so strange in this type of union, although this was not something contemplated by adelphopoiesis, it was implicitly accepted, since the couple could Have one?Complete union? and ‘totally legalized’.
Although the practice is not very common, it has been accepted socially and legally throughout most of the Middle Ages and even throughout the modern era, however, this union was more common in the East, not so much in Europe. It is known that the Catholic Church offered it and there are even known cases of saints who have joined others through this practice, as happened with Cosme and Damio.
However, it is unclear why this ritual was abandoned. Romantic same-sex attraction can be considered the reason, as it has never been really well considered.
In other words, it was legally acceptable for two same-sex people to come together to share their lives, as long as there is no homosexuality, however, implicitly, it seems that people knew or felt that something else was going on in these unions.
Undoubtedly, adelphopoiesis has long been considered a precedent for same-sex marriage. The ancient ritual was held in the churches, where the members of the couple’s family gathered in front of the cross and performed various liturgies.
There are authors, such as J. Boswell, who argue that homosexuality was accepted by the Church until the 13th century, so they interpret this ritual as an example of this, it should not be forgotten that there is not so much jet lag between the two. early Middle Ages and classical age, so we’re not talking about a decaying hypothesis.
“Love is born of memory, lives on intelligence and dies of oblivion” – Ramon Llull-
Image credits: wwwww. medievalists. net