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.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, 1998 (Act No. 120 of 1998) is a South African statute in terms of which marriages performed under African customary law, including polygynous marriages, are recognized as legal marriages.he spouses are obliged to register the marriage with the Department of Home Affairs within three months; for marriages which existed before the act came into force, there was a one-year period for registration. Both of these periods were repeatedly extended up to the end of 2010.