For years, couples have dedicated a single “ring” finger to romance when any other digit would do. A case of left side, strong side? Not according to history.
In medieval times, getting caught scribbling with one’s left hand could earn accusations of being possessed and, during the Spanish Inquisition, lefties were more likely to be tortured or killed. In fact, the aversion touched many cultures, from the long-standing taboo in Islamic countries against eating and drinking with one’s left hand, to the expectation in ancient Japan that any wife who didn’t favour her right (hand) could be legally divorced on the spot, no questions asked.
So why do we favour a finger on a cursed hand to symbolize lasting love? The union between marriage and the now-standard ring placement can be traced back to second-century Egyptians who falsely believed that “a certain most delicate nerve” began in the fourth left finger and stretched directly to the heart, according to the Greek scholar Appian.
Centuries later, the Romans came to a similar conclusion. During the Reformation in 1549 an English Bishop and Protestant reformer, Thomas Cranmer, used wedding rings as a way to break from tradition. That year, he published The Book of Common Prayer, which instructs couples to ditch a centuries-old practice in favour of slipping their wedding rings over the left fourth finger.
Source: www.mentalfloss.com
