[Wolfstar]

You are right in the sense that most societies have used some form of religious ceremony to join a man and a woman in marriage, and that was sufficient in the eyes of the society's laws. I was speaking of the more recent practice of actual government intrusion into such traditions, which occurred when governments began requiring licenses to get married.

[Spunky]

"I was speaking of the more recent practice of actual government intrusion into such traditions, which occurred when governments began requiring licenses to get married."

More recent? And when might that have been?