Most of those laws weren’t “written”; they evolved from custom, and legislation crept in later. It’s strange to think of it, but by current standards, Romeo would be a pedophile and it wasn’t until the middle of the 18th century that England raised the age of consent for girls to thirteen (which also applied to the colonies). I recommend reading this book: Love, Sex and Christian Society in Medieval Europe by James A. Brundage. It details how almost all of the laws that exist today regarding sex, marriage and public morality are grounded in principles thousands of years old and ill-suited to modern times. Check out http://tinyurl.com/yo2vkg, which is based on the book.
Most of those laws weren’t “written”; they evolved from custom, and legislation crept in later. It’s strange to think of it, but by current standards, Romeo would be a pedophile and it wasn’t until the middle of the 18th century that England raised the age of consent for girls to thirteen (which also applied to the colonies). I recommend reading this book: Love, Sex and Christian Society in Medieval Europe by James A. Brundage. It details how almost all of the laws that exist today regarding sex, marriage and public morality are grounded in principles thousands of years old and ill-suited to modern times. Check out http://tinyurl.com/yo2vkg, which is based on the book.