July 16, 1439: Kissing Banned in England! - History and Headlines

On July 16, 1439, kissing was banned in England in an effort to stop the Black Death from spreading. An excerpt from the article:

"On July 16, 1439, the Parliament of King Henry VI of England issued a proclamation banning kissing.

Digging Deeper
This ban of something we now think of as being so personal was in response to yet another outbreak of plague. This particular plague was probably not the bubonic plague which caused an epidemic known as the Black Death in which entire populations were wiped out.

In those years, the word “plague” was a general term used to describe any infectious malady that spread rampantly.

So, was the Government getting involved in the personal matter of affection between two lovers or a man and his wife? Not really. In actuality the ban was more directed at ritual kissing and kissings of greetings, both of which had their origins in the Christian religion. One fitting excerpt from the New Testament reads, “Greet one another with a holy kiss”.

This “kiss of peace” became a traditional Christian greeting which still remains in the Catholic and Orthodox churches. Most Protestant churches have done away with it after early reformist believed the practice would lead to one wanting to seek other pleasures of the flesh. In these churches and cultures, the ritualistic “kiss of peace” has been replaced by the handshake."