Continued,
A side effect of this system was children born out of wedlock, or from "unauthorized" unions, were considered almost sub-human, and fair game for the ridicule and disparagement, and even exploitation of the rest of society. Bastards were severely treated, for a crime of which they bore absolutely no responsibility. I agree, in spite of this most marriages survived, and most people loved their spouses, but this is a testament to basic human decency, not the superior morals of some idealized past.