medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Thanks, but don't bother at least on my account. My principal concern
revolves around Zola's remark, which I'm beginning to think he made up out
of whole anti-clerical cloth. The haggling over a stipend rings true, if
for no other reason than that 19th-c. clergy were of varying degrees of
acquaintance with canon law and equally varying degrees of venality. Most
churches in my diocese blithely ignore the "rule" that one must not be
required to pay for the use of the church building; the cathedral "costs"
$1K!!
Many thanks,
MG
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
> culture
>
> A good brief summary of mediaeval marriage practice can be found in
>
> Bernard Hamilton: Religion in the medieval west. E. Arnold, 1986. Ch 12
> Religious Observance I: The Sacraments: marriage pp 113-114.
>
> Briefly: marriage was in two parts. Vows and Blessing.
>
> The first was originally entirely secular, could take place anywhere,
> and even required no witnesses (!) If a man & a woman who were free to
> marry exchanged vows, and then consummated the union, that was a valid
> marriage.
>
> The church disapproved of this, not least because if the ceremony was
> unwitnessed, either party could deny it and commit bigamy which caused
> problems of legitimacy of the offspring apart from the state of sin of
> the defaulting party. (The legitimacy of the Princes in the Tower is the
> most famous case.)
>
> The church encouraged the calling of banns, the use of a priest as an
> authorised and literate witness, and for couples to come for a blessing
> as soon as convenient afterwards and to make the marriage public.
>
> The later wedding ceremony reflected this double origin. Vows at church
> door / in nave &c followed by blessing / nuptial mass before the altar.
>
> Could on request scan the pages and send as attachment.
>
> BMC
>
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