medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
I did not think that we had established as fact that the pre-reformation
Church believed that only the married could commit adultery. We should
probably ask Professor Helmholz for chapter and verse but case history would
seem to indicate that you did not have to be married to commit adultery.
For example on 16 September 1446 the vicar of Buckden came before the bishop
of Lincoln. It was asserted that under cover of the sacrament of penance he
had 'gravia crimina adulterii et incestus spiritualis [because he was her
father in faith] cum ... Agnete dampnabiliter commisit'. Agnes was married
but the vicar could not have been, yet he was accused of adultery. - He
managed to purge himself with an impressive group of witnesses but there was
no suggestion that, as an unmarried man, he could not qualify as an
adulterer. And there are other similar cases.
[A Hamilton Thompson, The English Clergy (1947), p237]
Rosemary Hayes
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Briggs" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2005 2:21 PM
Subject: Re: [M-R] Informal Adultery
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> Rosemary Hayes wrote:
>>
>> But you might not know whether the person you were fornicating with
>> was married or not - thus you might commit adultery unconsciously -
>> surely the meaning of the definitition. Or have I missed another
>> joke?
>
> Possibly. The point I was making was that under English Civil and Canon
> Law, and, as far as we are aware, mediaeval Canon Law, you can only commit
> adultery if you are married. It seems to be only under modern US criminal
> law, and Roman Catholic Canon Law since approximately the 17th century,
> whereby the unmarried can commit adultery.
>
> John Briggs
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