Any anthropology specialists here? I heard of women having several husbands or tribes where the children where taken care of by the whole village and there was no concept of couple. How far back does monogamy go in Western civilisation? I guess church has to be involved here.
I think it's important to distinguish between the practice of monogamy, which isn't a uniquely human trait at all and which may have precedents in our evolutionary history, and the concept that monogamy is somehow morally superior to other types of sexual relationships - which is an artefact of culture. Also worth mentioning that many cultures make a distinction between a spouse and other sexual partners (slaves, concubines, mistresses etc.) cultures which profess to value Monogamy may tolerate quite a bit of non-marital sex in practice, so long as the 'one man one wife' dynamic is preserved.
As to the link with the Christian Church - it's more complex than you may expect. The Bible, especially the Old Testament, is pretty lax about men having multiple wives. Valuing monogamy became a feature of mainstream Christianity once it becoming established in Greco-Roman societies which already had these values. The laws had been established centuries before Christianity arrived to prevent wealthy men marrying all the eligible women and leaving the less well off men wifeless.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/darwin-eternity/201109/why-we-think-monogamy-is-normal
You could try in /r/askanthropology.
Most (All) estimates of the Hindu Epic Ramayana put it before the 4th Century AD (some even put it significantly before christ). It presents monogamy as the ideal form of marriage practised by the Maryadapuroshottam (greatest of men). So, the concept of Monogamy at least should be pretty old in South Asia.
Source: Goldman, Robert P. (1990). The Ramayana of Valmiki: An Epic of Ancient India: Balakanda. Princeton University Press.
http://books.google.co.in/books?id=DWX43jnbOngC&printsec=frontcover&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false
In "Why the West Rules for Now," Morris suggested that it started when the agricultural revolution happened. Basically, agriculture allowed people to accumulate wealth, which allowed for inheritances. So, men started wanting to make sure that the kids were in fact theirs, so they started enforcing monogamous relationships and also started marrying off girls earlier before they could "stray."