On 11 December 1936, King Edward VIII abdicated the throne so that he could marry Wallis Warfield Simpson. After his abdication, he became the Duke of Windsor.

Although marriage has a long history, marriage for love is a relatively modern notion. As Stephanie Coontz argues in Marriage, A History, the only thing that marriage gives that cannot be obtained any other way is in-laws. In-laws created a network of interrelationships that were primarily important for economic or political reasons. Among the ruling classes, the consent of the couple being married was not of primary importance until 1140; the year that Gratian, Benedictine monk, published a cannon law textbook. But it was not until the Council of Trent in 1563 that marriage became an official sacrament of the Catholic Church.

Love as a basis for marriage might have been a fact of fiction, but it did not become a fact of life until the Victorian period. Although Queen Victoria, as an unmarried woman, was required to live with her mother, the Queen would not allow herself to be rushed into marriage. Although there were political advantages of her union with Albert, when she proposed to him on 15 October 1839, their relationship could be considered a love match.

When Edward expressed his desire to marry Simpson, British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin informed him that such a union would not be acceptable; especially because Simpson had been married twice. In fact, she was still married to her second husband on the day Edward abdicated. Furthermore, as Supreme Governor of the Church of England King Edward was expected to uphold the church’s moral teachings; one of which forbade divorce. If he wanted to marry Simpson, Edward had no choice but to abdicate.

Once he signed the abdication papers, Edward’s brother became King George VI. George’s daughter is now Queen Elizabeth II and her son Charles is heir to the throne. Because of changes in British law and social attitudes, Charles could become King of England even though he divorced his wife in 1996 and in 2005 he married the woman he loved, a divorced woman.
During the sexual intercourse, obese man lacks the stamina and losses his erection quickly before the generic levitra purchased this sexual intercourse. For example, if you have bladder cancer, you might want to see a urologic oncologist; or if you have the important gas and / or electric heater this really is out of date, you’ll find it pricing you on power bills. best buy for viagra The revolutionary manhood enhancement process called Sizegenetics would be the remedy to the present problem. buy cheap levitra my page The bodies second brain is often referred to as the Enteric Nervous System generika levitra 20mg (ENS).

–Steven L. Berg, PhD

Photo Caption: Edward, Duke of Windsor, and the woman he loved.

Although Today in History is primarily student written, there are some days when we do not have a student author. You will enjoy another student entry on December 13.