With this ring, I thee control.

In a recent class, after reading "The Fourme of Solempnizacion of Matrimonye" there was a discussion in class over the significance/meaning of the wedding ring. I thought I'd take a stab and give my own opinion.

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries women were generally regarded as the weaker sex and were given the perhaps unappreciated tasks of bearing children, keeping the house, mending the lines, cooking...
A woman was not considered an equal to man and, with the exception of the good Queen, had few legal rights.

The wedding band, an unending line or circle representing eternity, was given only to the women in the marriage ceremonies performed according to the ceremony of the Book of Common Prayer. And while the ring has evolved as a symbol of love worn by both sexes, it originally stood for something quite different.

As a rancher brands a cow, a pet lover collars its dog, and a clothing company marks its products, a married woman bore the mark of her husband- the gold band around her finger. The band signaled to lusting onlookers that she belonged to another man and it reminded her daily of the commitment she bored to her husband. It was a sign of his ownership of her, and his right to her possessions as well as her body.

For a lighter opinion "The History Of .net" points out other purposes for the wedding band- a symbol of the man's trust of the woman, a proof to other women that she laid claim on the man's heart, or simply a token of true love. Though the wedding ring may have begun as a symbol of ownership, it has become something more- a sign of love.

Note: some information taken from "The History Of" at http://www.thehistoryof.net/history-of-the-wedding-ring.html