Proof of A Gay Marriage In Spain back in 1031 AD

Okay, there's no photos (or oil paintings) of the ceremony, but here's the text of a document from A.D. 1031, from the Cartulary of Celanova (Celanova is a county of Galacia, Spain)

We, Peter Didaz and Munio Vandilaz, make a pact and agreement mutually between ourselves for the house and church of St. Mary of Ordines, which we jointly own and in which we share the labor, taking care of visitors and in regulating the care of, decorating and governing the premises, planting and building. And we share equally in the work of the garden, and in feeding and clothing ourselves and supporting ourselves. And we agree that neither of us may give to anyone else without the other's consent anything, on account of our friendship, and that we will divide the work on the house evenly, and assign labor equally and support our workers equally and with dignity. And we will remain good friends to each other with faith and sincerity, and with other people {we will remain equally} friends and enemies all days and nights, forever. And if Peter dies before Munio he will leave Munio the property and the documents. And if Munio dies before Peter he will leave him the house and the documents.

So these two men owned a house and a church together. They saw their lives as a partnership, sharing the chores, the responsibilities, and the rewards.

I love their vow of remaining so committed to each other for

all days and nights, forever.

And the element of leaving all they had to the other upon their deaths - showing that no other love or relationship could come between them, ever.

It may be in the legal jargon of almost 800 years ago, but there's a magic to the love between Peter and Munio that I can feel in reading this.

I wonder what happened to them. I hope they lived long and happy lives together (though Spain's Medieval Empire, with the Kingdom split among 4 sons who each became King of a portion of the country and then tried to kill each other off to get the whole empire of Spain under their rule sounds like a bloody mess!)

But maybe, in those dark ages, Peter and Munio's church was a beacon of light and tolerance and peace.

Certainly their story remains today - right down through this post on this blog - a beacon bright with the power of love.

Namaste,

Lee

The text quoted above I found on pg. 79 of "In Your Eyes: Quotations on Gay Love" edited by Richard Derus.