Marriage in La Rossa

Marriage is a legal institution in the Republic of La Rossa that allows for two individuals to be wedded together, allowing for unity between the two in various legal and social affairs. Similar institutions exist across the Attu Archipelago. The legal institution pulls its ties from the socially recognized form of marriage that has existed on the island for what is likely several thousand years. The laws around marriage have changed over the centuries, though its modern recognition as a legal status that affords certain rights to wedded couples traces back only to 115 PC, under the rule of Dux Cornelio Minestrici di Mineria. Today, as a result, couples are allowed to legally share their assets between them, and are usually subject to lower tax burdens.

Traditionally, marriage was composed only between a woman and a man, though laws have changed in 19 PC to allow for homosexual couples to marry. To consent to marriage, both individuals have to be shown to be above the age of 16 and of sound and independent mind. The latter qualification is relatively recent, being introduced only in 17 PC, and was meant to stop the institution of arranged and forceful marriages. Unfortunately, cases continue to appear each year, usually in rural or mountain areas. In the case of a marriage being found unlawful, a judge may choose to strike the marriage down and force the couple to separate, in the process splitting the married couple's property between the two. A marriage may also be ended voluntarily given the consent of at least one party through divorce, though social pressure may prevent such action being taken. Cases of femicide have been noted to happen in situations where a wife threatened or went through with a divorce.

Usually, both partners take on a shared family name after marrying. In practice, this is usually the husband's name. Exceptions to the rule exist, most notably in the Six Families, the island's nobility, which has followed a different name inheritance scheme than the rest of the island, choosing to preserve the Family name even in cases of a woman marrying off.

Marriage Ceremony

The official start of a marriage has traditionally been accompanied with a wedding ceremony, a grand event organized by the families of the wedded couple. Though traditions have differed across regions, owing to distance and a lack of easy and direct connection, some common threads have become noticeably present in recent centuries. One such tradition, which has become central to the conception of marriage, is the act of the couple ceremonially drinking wine from the same cup on the day of marriage, prepared by mixing together two bottles of alcohol readied by both families. The act of "coming together" has also been noted to be a proof of trust that bonds both families together rather than just the wedded individuals. If both families do not provide a safe drink, it will not be only a family rival who suffers, but their own child as well. Even in cases of rivalry between families, the social pressure associated with a wedding has led to tense ceremonies resolve calmly and cordially once it is revealed the drink they have prepared for one another was not poison, but rather a gift to the new couple. Although actual instances of poisoning wine are rare, such a folk interpretation has, according to oral history, resolved many inter-family conflicts.

It is believed that historically such specially prepared wines were prepared by either the involved families themselves or by asking artisans. Nowadays, such wines tend to be store-bought, though they also may be highly expensive in value as a show of generosity from the providing family, in a show of wealth and status. The gifting of a poor wine has thus never been a widespread occurrence, even in cases where a family may hold grudges against the other, as offering good alcohol instead could instead result in a blow in status for the one that looks cheap in comparison. Non-alcoholic drinks are also sometimes used, according to the wishes of the couple, though in such cases the two families try to coordinate with one another to make sure the final mixture is good in taste. Practice weddings often involve shared tasting of the drinks to ensure a good taste, though the couple itself usually isn't allowed to participate.

Though this central core of a wedding is widespread, and practiced in urban communities as well as rural ones, there are regional and cultural differences that result in variations on the theme. In rural parts of Buglio, it is not merely the wedded couple that shares a drink between one another, but the entirety of the two families as well. The wines are mixed together in a huge barrel, which the wedded couple is allowed to take the first sip from. Afterwards, the wedding guests all line up and drink from it together. In Lorma, it is not infrequent to hold weddings on the sides of cliffs, which mark the city-province. After sharing a sip, the couple throw the glass down the cliff onto the rocks, where it smashes to bits, symbolizing good luck. Such a practice has been discouraged by the national government for some time due to pollution, though the associated fine is rarely enforced. Another popular location is Glass Cave, a chasm which has earned its name from the countless weddings performed above it that have resulted in a glass being thrown down into it. The government once more cautions against visiting the area, as the mound of glass that has formed in it now forms a lethal hazard. Finally, among some of the Montagneri, who live in the mountains across the island, it is not uncommon to slaughter a pig for the occasion and coat it in wine, eating it for dinner in addition to the ceremony.

The Six Families

The Six Families are the aristocratic nobility of the island of La Rossa, who have ruled it for centuries prior to the establishment of the modern democratic state. Each of the Families spans a width of blood-related branches that share ties to the current Head of the Family, a role whose status differs between dynasties. To prevent the number of members expanding without end it is only a narrow set of relations to the current patriarch that are allowed to formally tie themselves to the Family names, which are unlawful to hold for those outside of that set. Unlike the last names among the common population, which serve as an identifier of ancestry, the names of the nobility also serve as a title and honor in and of themselves.

The Families have not been historically insular, but have rather participated in and encouraged marriage outside of the nobility, in effect bringing the newly rising wealth on the island into the fold of the structure of the Families themselves. Women marrying into the Families, usually daughters of local magnates, would take on their name and shed their own, keeping up with a commonly practiced patronymic naming scheme widespread on the island. Yet in the cases of the opposite, the wealthy men marrying into the Family by wedding one of its daughters would too change their names to match that of the Family they were being adopted into, rather than keeping their own. This presents a major exception to the traditional rules, which have usually dictated that wives should adopt the surnames of their husbands. More notably, in the cases of marriage between two noble Families, different solutions are employed. In some cases, the wedded couple chose to take on the names of both Families, though the order in which their names stood often led to fights over their Families prestige (e.g. Barozzo-Minestrici in opposition to Minestrici-Barozzo, where both Families would argue that one is being placed below the other). As compromise, the two partners would sometimes take on both names, but in different order (i.e. the husband would be known as Barozzo-Minestrici, while the wife would hold the name Minestrici Barozzo), or an alternative scheme would be arranged, such as another paired wedding being organized where the second couple would take the names in the opposite order. Most curiously, however, were the cases of name exchanges, where the couple would both have only one name, being that of the Family they married into (effectively swapping Families between them).

Marriage as an institution has been a deeply political matter among the nobility, as it served both to expand their reach and to bolster diplomacy with other powerful actors. Yet though marriage served to expand the Families on their peripheries, their center, the Heads of the Families, have often tended to remain unmarried for their entire lives. Though this wasn't always the case, in recent centuries the power struggles within the nobility have led to the selection of leaders that are expected to have no wife nor offspring that could take on the role after them. In the unified state of La Rossa, for centuries the fragile balance of power between the Families have made all of them wary of one another, with five Families often fearing that a Dux from the sixth may establish a dynasty should enough of his descendants be given the power to rule. As a result, many "safe" choices were made in putting trust in people who are believed to be leaving no one behind. Though not in any way a universal occurrence (a number of sons have taken over after the deaths of their fathers), it was not uncommon for it to be a criterion in selection. Additionally, within the each Family itself there is usually a struggle for power between the different related branches, each vying for power for themselves. Thus, in expectation that power will move among cousins if it cannot move to sons, the Heads of Families selected tend to be alone.

Some of this aversion to marriage common in political heads survives to this day, even in democratic politics. In modern day, orientation towards politics as a question of career leads many hopefuls in electoral politics (or otherwise) to not take on marriage. Reasons behind this vary, with a focus on careers usually leading to less time for marriage or uncaringness towards it, or changes in social norms which have deprioritized marriage, or a belief that going into marriage may compromising their prospects. While it is not uncommon for politicians to have partners or even fiances, it is disproportionately rare for politicians and high-ranking bureaucrats to be married.