A marriage license is a document issued by a religious organization or a state authority authorizing a couple to marry. The procedure for obtaining one differs between jurisdictions and has changed considerably over time. Marriage licenses began to be issued in the Middle Ages specifically to permit marriages that would otherwise have been illegal, making the license itself a distinct legal gateway to the institution of marriage rather than the marriage bond itself. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
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Marriage license (Wikipedia)
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A marriage license (or marriage licence in Commonwealth spelling) is a document issued, either by a religious organization or state authority, authorizing a couple to marry.
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