Interesting Facts About Rings
By Alaska Weddings Unlimited

In 860 A.D., Pope Nicholas the 1st decreed that an engagement ring become a required statement of nuptial intent. He insisted that engagement rights had to be made of gold, which signified a financial sacrifice on the part of the husband. The diamond engagement ring originated with King Maximillian who presented Mary of Burgundy with a diamond ring in 1477 as a token of his love. The Venetians popularized the custom during the 15th century. Since the diamond was the hardest and most enduring substance in nature it followed that the engagement and marriage would endure forever.

Rings were used as currency in the Middle East prior to the advent of coinage and were a sign of a person's wealth. In ancient times the wedding right was thought to protect the bride from "evil spirits". Ancient Roman wedding rings were made of iron. In early Rome a gold band came to symbolize everlasting love and commitment in marriage. Roman wedding rings were carved with two clasped hands. Very early rings had a carved key through which a woman was thought to be able to open her husband's heart. In 3rd. Century Greece the ring finger was the index finger. In India it was the thumb. The western tradition began with the Greeks who believed that the third finger was connected directly to the heart by a route that was called the "vein of love".

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