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.
Since 1998 the law has recognised marriages, including polygynous marriages, conducted under African customary law, and in 2006 South Africa became the fifth country in the world to allow same-sex marriage.According to the 2011 census, 36.7% of South Africans aged 20 or older were married. The Marriage Act, 1961, which allows for the solemnisation of a civil or religious marriage between a man and a woman. 2  The Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, 1998, which allows for the registration of marriages under African customary law.