The History Of Wedding Rings: A Brief Overview
Wedding rings. The mere thought of a wedding ring and the accompanying ceremony creates mass excitement and panic- excitement because of the union of two people and the romance involved and panic because of the expenses, especially the cost of the ring. The ring wasn"t always an overblown piece of jewelry that costs an arm and leg. In fact, they were symbolically made of materials that represented the eternity of life (and the bond of marriage) and quite frankly were those materials that could be found along a river bank.
The origins of the wedding ring are rather obscure. They have been traced back to Egypt, along the plans of the Nile River. Because the Nile was considered responsible for life and death for the Egyptian civilization, anything that came from the Nile was considered to be a good omen. Thus, it is not difficult to understand why the first wedding rings were made of reeds that came from the banks of the Nile before giving way to leather, bone, ivory and metal rings with stones embedded in them. The Egyptians wore their wedding rings on the same finger as we do today; but for a very specific reason: They believed that the vein of the third finger went directly to the heart and reflected all emotions. The Greeks inherited this idea in the Third Century BCE and passed it onto the Romans.
Prior to the Romans and Greeks popularizing the idea of the wedding ring, Jews were most known to use wedding rings. In fact, it was an integral part of the ceremony as the giving of the ring along with a statement of betrothal effectively changed the woman"s status from unmarried to married. These rings did not have to be fancy "" the minimum requirement under Jewish law was a ring worth more than a penny or some other object worth more than a penny.
The Romans are most responsible for metal rings and gold and silver rings in particular. The symbolism behind the metal ring was to show that the groom trusted his bride with all of his material possessions. This symbolism is important because marriages in the past were linked to contractual agreements between the two families and therefore this level of trust was (and still is) essential for the marriage to be successful. This ring was not given at the ceremony. Instead it was given when be brought her into his house for the first time.
During the 800s, Christians adopted the wedding ring. In Medieval Europe, gold became the standard for wedding rings and it quickly became popular to have these rings embedded with gemstones such as rubies, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds. The Irish considered marriages to valid only if there was a gold ring involved. In other areas of the world, metal was still the choice, although they were not limited to gold, with rings of silver, brass and copper often being as popular as gold rings.
During the Renaissance, the idea of the ornate wedding ring became the tradition and prevailing fashion. In addition, the idea of the engagement ring became custom and this made rings become more elaborate than in the past. In Italy, silver was popular for the engagement ring and was usually embedded with some type of gemstone. Gold rings still were the most popular during this time and were embedded with different types of gemstones, as well as being engraved with different symbols such as clasping hands and flowers.
Later in history, during the 1600s in England and France, silver was the most popular metal rings. This was linked to a fashion trend of wearing "poesy rings", which basically was a ring inscribed with poetry. At the same time, the Puritans and other early sects of Protestant Christians tried to outlaw rings as being the vestiges of pagan ritual, they are the only two groups of Christians known to not use rings in wedding ceremonies.
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