There was the development of Feudalism, The Crusades, The Magna Carta, The Hundred Years' War, The Black Death, and the disagreements between Popes and Kings.
In 1753, however, the Marriage Act, promoted by the Lord Chancellor, Lord Hardwicke, declared that all marriage ceremonies must be conducted by a minister in a parish church or chapel of the Church of England to be legally binding.
Defense of Marriage Act 1996. In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or inter pretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word marriage means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.