Editing Civil marriage (section)

==History==
Countries maintaining a [[Civil registry|population registry]] of its residents keep track of [[marital status]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/sconcerns/mar/default.htm |title=Demographic and Social Statistics: Marriage and divorce |website=unstats.un.org }}</ref> and all [[United Nations|United Nations (UN)]] member states except [[Iran]], [[Somalia]], [[South Sudan]], [[Sudan]], and [[Tonga]] have signed or ratified either the United Nations [[Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage, and Registration of Marriages]] (1962)<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/MinimumAgeForMarriage.aspx | title=OHCHR &#124; Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage}}</ref> or the United Nations [[Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women]] (1979) which carry a responsibility to register marriages.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wunrn.com/news/2008/08_08/08_04_08/080408_child.htm |title=Child Marriage - Consent to Marriage - CEDAW - UN Convention on Marriage |access-date=2013-03-31 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029201715/http://www.wunrn.com/news/2008/08_08/08_04_08/080408_child.htm |archive-date=2013-10-29 }}</ref> Most countries define the conditions of civil marriage separately from religious requirements. Certain states, such as [[Israel]], allow couples to register only on the condition that they have first been married in a religious ceremony recognized by the state, or were married in a different country. 

===In England===
In [[Middle Ages|medieval Europe]], marriage was governed by [[canon law]], which recognized only those marriages where the parties stated they took one another as husband and wife as valid, regardless of the presence or absence of witnesses. It was not necessary, however, to be married by any official or cleric. This institution was canceled in [[England]] with the enactment of the [[Marriage Act 1753]], which required that, in order to be valid and registered, all marriages were to be performed in an official ceremony in a religious setting recognized by the state, i.e. [[Church of England]], [[Religious Society of Friends|the Quakers]], or in a [[Jewish|Jewish ceremony]]. Any other form of marriage was abolished. Children born into unions that were not valid under the act would not automatically [[Inheritance|inherit]] the property or titles of their parents. For historical reasons, the act did not apply in [[Scotland]]. Consequently, until 1940, it continued to be enough in [[Scotland]] for a man and a woman to pledge their commitment to each other in front of witnesses to legalize their marriage. This led to an industry of "fast marriages" in Scottish towns on the border with England; the town of [[Gretna Green]] was particularly well known for this. The [[Marriage Act 1836]] removed the requirement that the ceremony takes place in a religious forum, and [[Register office|registrar]]s have given the authority to register marriages not conducted by a religious official.

===In other European countries===
[[File:A cauple wait for wedding.jpg|thumb|A couple waiting to get married in the town of [[Alghero]] on the island of [[Sardinia]], [[Italy]]]]

Many European countries had institutions similar to [[common-law marriage]]. However, the [[Catholic Church]] forbade [[clandestinity (canon law)|clandestine marriage]] at the [[Fourth Lateran Council]] (1215), which required all marriages to be announced in a church by a priest. In 1566, the edict of the [[Council of Trent]] was proclaimed denying [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholics]] any form of marriage not executed in a religious ceremony before a priest and two witnesses.

The [[Protestant]] pastor and theologian of [[Geneva]], [[John Calvin]], decreed that in order for a couple to be considered married they must be registered by the state in addition to a church ceremony.

In 1792, with the [[French Revolution]], religious marriage ceremonies in [[France]] were made secondary to civil marriage.  Religious ceremonies could still be performed, but only for couples who had already been married in a civil ceremony. [[Napoleon]] later spread this custom throughout most of Europe. In present-day France, only civil marriage has legal validity. A religious ceremony may be performed after or before the civil union, but it has no legal effect.

In [[Germany]], the [[Napoleonic code]] was valid only in territories conquered by Napoleon. With the fall of his empire, civil marriage in Germany began to die out. However, certain sovereign German states introduced civil marriages, which were either obligatory (like the French model) or optional, with either a religious or civil ceremony being accepted. Already before 1848, the Grand-Duchy of [[Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach]] enacted optional civil marriages, followed by the German republics of [[Free City of Frankfurt| the Free City of Frankfurt upon Main]] (1850, obligatory), [[Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg]] (1851, optional) and [[Free and Hanseatic City of Lübeck]] (1852, optional). German Grand-Duchies such as [[Grand Duchy of Oldenburg|Oldenburg]] (1852/55, optional), [[Grand Duchy of Baden|Baden]] (1860), and [[Grand Duchy of Hesse|Hesse]] (1860) as well as the [[Kingdom of Württemberg]] (1863) followed suit.<ref>Julius Schoeps, "Emanzipation der Herzen – oder: Der Fall Ferdinand Falkson", in: ''PreußenJahrBuch: Ein Alamanch'' [published on the occasion of the Projekt Preussen 2001], Museumspädagogischer Dienst Berlin (MD Berlin) in collaboration with the Landesverband der Museen zu Berlin and Museumsverband des Landes Brandenburg (ed.), Berlin: MD Berlin, 2000, pp. 52–56, here p. 56. {{ISBN|3-930929-12-0}}.</ref> Civil marriages enabled [[interfaith marriage]]s as well as marriages between spouses of different Christian denominations.  After the [[unification of Germany]] in 1871, the [[Reichstag (German Empire)|Reichstag]] adopted a bill initiated by Chancellor [[Otto von Bismarck]] as the "Civil Marriage Law" in 1875 (see: [[Kulturkampf]]); since then, only civil marriages have been recognized in Germany. Religious ceremonies may still be performed at the couple's discretion. Until December 31, 2008, religious marriages could not be performed until the couple had first married in a civil ceremony.