The original Cannon law requiring banns to be read, which was designed to prevent clandestine marriages, was decreed in 1215 at the Lateran IV Council. On November 11, 1563, the Council of Trent made the provisions for banns more precise. It required that before the celebration of marriage the names of the contracting parties must be announced publicly in church during Mass by the parish priests of both parties on three consecutive Holy Days, Sundays being included as Holy Days. Traditionally, the banns were read from the pulpit and were also published in the parish bulletin. Complications arose under this system for marriages between a Catholic and a non-Catholic as the non-Catholic would not have a Catholic parish in which the banns could be read.
In the 14th century, marriage licenses were introduced to allow the usual period under the banns to be waived. This was accompanied by the required payment of a fee and a sworn declaration that there was no canonical impediment to the marriage. These first marriage licenses were usually issued by an archbishop, bishop or archdeacon and could be sought for many reasons: wishing to avoid the three week delay, desire to be married in a church other than your home parish or as a status symbol because of the cost associated with obtaining a marriage license.
By the late 20th century, greater mobility had limited the usefulness of banns to determine impediments to marriage. Because of this, the 1983 Code of Canon Law stated that the norms regarding publication of banns should be established by individual national bishops’ conferences. However, although it is no longer required by Canon Law, many parishes still publish banns of marriage in their weekly bulletin.