Dear Erin,
Yes, I think assertion is another way of saying that the Church felt a
need to publically state that "consummation" was not the primary mandate
for a legitimate marriage - the images I am examining are found on
baptismal fonts in rural parishes, a missal from Spain and on some
cloister capitals in a monastery in Spain - and I agree that they had to
insist and uphold the model of the marriage of mary and Joseph...
The iconography i'm examining is restricted to 1150-1200 circa....and is
closely connected with the "dual origins" of Christ - the divine and
carnal...the handholding gestures between Mary and Joseph are shown in
the Nativity of Christ scenes....in the missal it accompanies a prayer
which says:
Concede quesumus omnipotens deus ut no uingeniti tui mova per carnem
nativitas liberet, quos sub peccati iugo uetusta servitus tenet. (per
eundem.) Sacra (menta). Oblata domine munera nova unigeniti ui nativitate
sanctifica, nos que a peccatorum maculis emunda. per eundem.
This connection or added dimension to the significance of the holy
couple's marriage as a "model" may be suggesting or pointing to other
debates surrounding the formulation of the marriage sacrament which I am
not aware of....I believe I have read most of the work by Brundage
on marriage and sexual practices...but perhaps I have missed something.
Many thanks - Harriet Sonne.
On Sat, 18 May 1996, Erin Copenbarger wrote:
>
>
> On Sat, 18 May 1996, Harriet Sonne wrote:
>
> >
> > My question is - Was the gap between canonists, like Gratian and
> > theologians, like Hugh of St.Victor and later, Peter Lombard, so
> > intensely heated (I know that Gratian considered marriage valid only if
> > consummated and that Hugh of St.Victor and P.Lombard considered "consent"
> > the primary requirement) that the Church was forced to propogandize or
> > excert their views on the issue of "consent" which in turn supported the
> > model of the holy couple as the "ideal marriage"? I'm afraid this is not
> > my area - and I'm not certain to what extent this dispute or debate
> > manifested itself? Is there any evidence which discusses this? One of the
> > reasons why I ask this is that the illustrations of marriage accompanying
> > the 13th century texts of Gration's laws shows couples standing before
> > the priest...
> >
> > Any thoughts or suggestions on the extent or degree of the 12th c. dispute
> > would be appreciated.
> >
> > Harriet Sonne
> >
> >
> I shall look up some references on this issue and post them later but I
> suspect that if you look at any of G. Duby's or J. Brundage's books on
> marriage they will discuss this. It was most definitely a heated
> debate. However, what you are seeing in the art I don't think is so much
> propaganda as assertion. Many people simply could not accept the view
> that consummation was necessary to marriage because this would mean that
> Mary and Joseph were not married as the Church held that their marriage
> was never consummated. Thus, if one accepts the consummation view, not
> only would Mary and Joseph not have had the "ideal" marriage, but they
> would not have had a "real" marriage.
>
> Erin Copenbarger
>
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