Marriage Litigation in the Western Church, 1215–1517

282 Pages·2021·1.463 MB·English

by  Wolfgang P. Müller

Marriage Litigation in the Western Church,
1215−1517
Fromtheestablishmentofacoherentdoctrineonsacramentalmarriage
totheeveoftheReformation,latemedievalchurchcourtswereusedfor
marriage cases in a variety of ways. Ranging widely across Western
Europe, including the Upper and Lower Rhine regions, England,
Italy,Catalonia,andCastile,thisstudyexploresthestarkdiscrepancies
in practice between the North of Europe and the South. Wolfgang
P.Müllerdrawsattentiontotheexistenceofpublicpenitentialproceed-
ings in the North and their absence in the South, and explains the
differenceindemand,aswellashighlightingvariationsinhowindivid-
ualsobtainedwrittendocumentationoftheirmaritalstatus.Integrating
legalandtheologicalperspectivesonmarriagewithlatemedievalsocial
history, Müller addresses critical questions around the relationship
between the Church and medieval marriage, and what this reveals
aboutbothinstitutions.
Wolfgang P. Müller is Professor of History at Fordham University,
where he specializes in church and other norms of the European
MiddleAges. His publicationsinclude Huguccio: TheLife, Works,and
Thought of a Twelfth-Century Jurist (1994) and The Criminalization of
AbortionintheWest(2012).

Marriage Litigation in the
−
Western Church, 1215 1517
Wolfgang P. Müller
FordhamUniversity,NewYork
UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom
OneLibertyPlaza,20thFloor,NewYork,NY10006,USA
477WilliamstownRoad,PortMelbourne,VIC3207,Australia
314–321,3rdFloor,Plot3,SplendorForum,JasolaDistrictCentre,
NewDelhi–110025,India
103PenangRoad,#05–06/07,VisioncrestCommercial,Singapore238467
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof
education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence.
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108845427
DOI:10.1017/9781108955812
©WolfgangP.Müller2021
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2021
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
ISBN978-1-108-84542-7Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof
URLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication
anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,
accurateorappropriate.
Marriage Litigation in the Western Church,
1215−1517
Fromtheestablishmentofacoherentdoctrineonsacramentalmarriage
totheeveoftheReformation,latemedievalchurchcourtswereusedfor
marriage cases in a variety of ways. Ranging widely across Western
Europe, including the Upper and Lower Rhine regions, England,
Italy,Catalonia,andCastile,thisstudyexploresthestarkdiscrepancies
in practice between the North of Europe and the South. Wolfgang
P.Müllerdrawsattentiontotheexistenceofpublicpenitentialproceed-
ings in the North and their absence in the South, and explains the
differenceindemand,aswellashighlightingvariationsinhowindivid-
ualsobtainedwrittendocumentationoftheirmaritalstatus.Integrating
legalandtheologicalperspectivesonmarriagewithlatemedievalsocial
history, Müller addresses critical questions around the relationship
between the Church and medieval marriage, and what this reveals
aboutbothinstitutions.
Wolfgang P. Müller is Professor of History at Fordham University,
where he specializes in church and other norms of the European
MiddleAges. His publicationsinclude Huguccio: TheLife, Works,and
Thought of a Twelfth-Century Jurist (1994) and The Criminalization of
AbortionintheWest(2012).

Marriage Litigation in the
−
Western Church, 1215 1517
Wolfgang P. Müller
FordhamUniversity,NewYork
UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom
OneLibertyPlaza,20thFloor,NewYork,NY10006,USA
477WilliamstownRoad,PortMelbourne,VIC3207,Australia
314–321,3rdFloor,Plot3,SplendorForum,JasolaDistrictCentre,
NewDelhi–110025,India
103PenangRoad,#05–06/07,VisioncrestCommercial,Singapore238467
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof
education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence.
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108845427
DOI:10.1017/9781108955812
©WolfgangP.Müller2021
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2021
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
ISBN978-1-108-84542-7Hardback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof
URLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication
anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,
accurateorappropriate.
Contents
ListofIllustrations pagevi
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
PartI TheNorth
1. MatrimonialCaseloadsinXantenandBasel 23
2. Franco-GermanicAdjudication 55
3. England 84
PartII TheSouth
4. Italy:CanonicalMarriageontheSidelines 117
5. Top-DownPastoralActioninCatalonia 150
6. TheDomesticPartnershipsofIberia 183
Conclusion 215
Appendix –SentencinginSelectDiocesanRegisters 218
Bibliography 246
Index 264
v
Illustrations
Map
0.1. NorthandSouth page5
Tables
0.1. NorthernandSouthernsentencing 4
0.2. NorthernandSouthernsentencing 12
2.1. ContestedenforcementclaimsinFranco-Germanicchurch
courts 77
Figures
0.1. Penance–privateandpublic 8
0.2. NotarialweddingceremonyoftheSouth 19
0.3. PriestlyweddingceremonyoftheNorth 19
vi