[ansel12]

Huh?

Bond for Marriage License
[23 December 1771]
Know all men by these presents that we Thomas Jefferson and Francis Eppes are held and firmly bound to our sovereign lord the king his heirs and successors in the sum of fifty pounds current money of Virginia, to the paiment of which, well and truly to be made we bind ourselves jointly and severally, our joint and several heirs executors and administrators in witness whereof we have hereto set our hands and seals this twenty third day of December in the year of our lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy one.
The condition of the above obligation is such that if there be no lawful cause to obstruct a marriage intended to be had and solemnized between the abovebound Thomas Jefferson and Martha Skelton of the county of Charles city, Widow,1 for which a license is desired, then this obligation is to be null and void; otherwise to remain in full force.
th: jefferson
francis eppes

[Cboldt]

Marriage and divorce law were in courts of equity, which had different jurisdiction compared with courts of law. And the roots of courts of equity are ecclesiastical (church) courts, which were allowed to co-exist with courts of law, in days gone by.

The distinction doesn't resolve anything, it simply illuminates how "holy matrimony" and "court" were tied together historically.

I wasn't disagreeing with your contention that marriage was a "legal" matter, I was only pointing out that "legal matters" used to be assigned to separate authorities, and "marriage law" was out of the jurisdiction of "courts of law," and in the jurisdiction of "courts of equity."

Courts of law and courts of equity were merged in the not so distant past, and most people today are ignorant of the history.