ABSTRACT
Antecedents of South African Marriage Law Roman and Germanic law played an important role in the legal foundations of marriage in the Western world. In the years 1100−1580 the Roman Catholic Church established its jurisdiction over the institution of marriage by declaring marriage to be a sacrament and by establishing various theocratic requirements for marriage. 1 By 1580, in the time of Roman Dutch Family Law, the Protestant Reformation played an important role with regard to the view of marriage. This has been characterized by some as an increasing secularization 2 of marriage. In fact, however, though marriage was no longer seen as a sacrament, it was still seen as a divine institution. At the same time the roles of the state and legal institutions were also acknowledged. The Political Ordinance of the States of Holland, issued 1 April 1580, mandated that either a minister of the church or an offi cial of the state had to conduct a marriage. The church and the state each had a role to play.
