It was happening in England from the late 17th century until 1913! Moreover, real memoirs about it have been preserved. Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould from Devonshire County wrote about witnessing such a transaction as a child in those times when a local publisher went to the market and returned... with a wife! Yes, indeed, a wife could be bought from her husband like bread. But what preceded this unusual tradition?<img src="/uploads/1_49394c0ba6.jpg" alt="1.jpg" srcset="/uploads/thumbnail_1_49394c0ba6.jpg 245w,/uploads/small_1_49394c0ba6.jpg 500w,/uploads/medium_1_49394c0ba6.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw">@A Brief History Of Wife Selling In The Victorian Era/A Day In History/YouTube.comThe point is that even before 1753, an official church wedding ceremony was not mandatory. All that was required was the consent of both parties and a suitable age (twelve for girls, fourteen for boys). But it was in 1753 that the Marriage Act was passed, which complicated the marriage procedure, but getting a divorce was the most difficult (as it had been since the mid-sixteenth century in England). When a woman got married, she completely ceased to exist as a separate legal entity and lost all her rights. This primarily concerned the wife's property, which was entirely passed to her husband. Women were in a weak position, and getting a divorce was practically impossible!<img src="/uploads/2_172e0efb7f.jpg" alt="2.jpg" srcset="/uploads/thumbnail_2_172e0efb7f.jpg 205w,/uploads/small_2_172e0efb7f.jpg 500w,/uploads/medium_2_172e0efb7f.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw">@A Brief History Of Wife Selling In The Victorian Era/A Day In History/YouTube.comIt was only in 1857, with the adoption of a new Marriage Act, that the divorce issue was finally transferred from ecclesiastical to civil court, but again, there was a nuance – getting a divorce was very expensive! Therefore, one of the alternative ways to divorce became the so-called “wife selling.”This tradition usually took place at the market because it was accessible to the poor, and there were always many people, meaning witnesses, who could thus confirm the fact of the "sale," i.e., divorce. In most cases, this unwritten custom, which, we emphasize, had a symbolic character, was carried out with the mutual consent of both spouses and was the cheapest and most accessible way for them to divorce in society's eyes.<img src="/uploads/3_400c558887.jpg" alt="3.jpg" srcset="/uploads/thumbnail_3_400c558887.jpg 207w,/uploads/small_3_400c558887.jpg 500w,/uploads/medium_3_400c558887.jpg 750w," sizes="100vw">@A Brief History Of Wife Selling In The Victorian Era/A Day In History/YouTube.comSometimes the amounts for which wives were sold were quite impressive, amounting to tens or sometimes hundreds of pounds sterling! But it was still more of a symbolic procedure, so sometimes, a wife was sold for nothing more than a pint of beer!

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In England, it was possible to sell and buy wives even for a pint of beer

When we think of animals saving human lives, we at least think of a huge, hairy St. Bernard dog finding a lost climber in the high snowy mountains. We are unlikely to think of an inconspicuous gray stony horseshoe crab. On the other hand, these creatures, far older than the dinosaurs, save millions of lives each year at the cost of their blood.<img src="/uploads/horseshoe_crab_5d2f430e60.jpeg" alt="horseshoe crab.jpeg" srcset="/uploads/thumbnail_horseshoe_crab_5d2f430e60.jpeg 218w,/uploads/small_horseshoe_crab_5d2f430e60.jpeg 500w," sizes="100vw">@uwm.edu/Horseshoe Crab UpdateTheir light blue blood has the unique property of detecting and neutralizing toxic bacteria. Scientists have learned to use this amazing crab blood to make a safe vaccine. When the vaccine is manufactured, there could be dangerous bacteria left in it. If this happens, people who receive this vaccine risk serious consequences or even death.<img src="/uploads/a_group_of_horseshoe_crabs_2_2_2_2_2099327956.jpeg" alt="a-group-of-horseshoe-crabs-2-2-2-2.jpeg" srcset="/uploads/thumbnail_a_group_of_horseshoe_crabs_2_2_2_2_2099327956.jpeg 245w,/uploads/small_a_group_of_horseshoe_crabs_2_2_2_2_2099327956.jpeg 500w,/uploads/medium_a_group_of_horseshoe_crabs_2_2_2_2_2099327956.jpeg 750w,/uploads/large_a_group_of_horseshoe_crabs_2_2_2_2_2099327956.jpeg 1000w," sizes="100vw">@delawarepublic.org/How climate change and human activity are impacting horseshoe crabs amid annual countFor this reason, large numbers of horseshoe crabs are captured each year to serve as donors to save us all. After blood is taken, the horseshoe crabs are returned to the sea, but 30% to 50% still die. Dramatically, there are no fully effective horseshoe crab blood analogs to test the safety of the vaccine. Hence, scientists now face the critical challenge of maintaining populations of this unique creature.<img src="/uploads/Significant_changes_to_the_horseshoe_crab_bleeding_industry_may_protect_wildlife_ab113965cd.jpeg" alt="Significant changes to the horseshoe crab bleeding industry may protect wildlife .jpeg" srcset="/uploads/thumbnail_Significant_changes_to_the_horseshoe_crab_bleeding_industry_may_protect_wildlife_ab113965cd.jpeg 234w,/uploads/small_Significant_changes_to_the_horseshoe_crab_bleeding_industry_may_protect_wildlife_ab113965cd.jpeg 500w,/uploads/medium_Significant_changes_to_the_horseshoe_crab_bleeding_industry_may_protect_wildlife_ab113965cd.jpeg 750w,/uploads/large_Significant_changes_to_the_horseshoe_crab_bleeding_industry_may_protect_wildlife_ab113965cd.jpeg 1000w," sizes="100vw">@npr.org/Vaccines are still tested with horseshoe crab blood. The industry is finally changing

Significant changes to the horseshoe crab bleeding industry may protect wildlife .jpeg

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In England, it was possible to sell and buy wives even for a pint of beer

What do we need to know about horseshoe crabs that have saved millions of human lives?

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