Note 983 — Chapter VII · RISE OF ECCLESIASTICAL MARRIAGE: THE CHURCH ACCEPTS THE LAY CONTRACT AND CEREMONIAL

Surtees Society Publications, LXIII, Appendix, 160, 161. See also the "Benedictio annuli, sponsi et sponsae" from the Ely Pontifical, Cambridge University library, of the twelfth century, ibid., 161, 162, in which the priest leads in blessing the ring, assigning the dower, and directing the "giving" of the woman. It is probably a part of a very early ritual.