Canonical Grounds for Divorce and Remarriage in Bulgaria and Catholic Europe (12th ­ the middle of 14th centuries)

Authors:

Pages: 265-272

Abstract:

In this paper a comparison has been made between the canonical grounds for divorce valid in the Catholic Church and in Medieval Christian Bulgaria respectively. The analysis calls for the conclusion that the canonical grounds for divorce accepted in the West and in Bulgaria had similar content but in the commentaries of the catholic canonists one could notice a tendency towards total equality between the sexes as far as their rights to divorce were concerned and an attempt at reconsidering the gravity of adultery as absolute grounds for dissolving a marriage. In their attitude towards second marriage and multiple marriages the persons dealing with marriage matter both in the East and in the West followed a tradition typical for Christianity – a tradition of preserving the integrity of marriage. The western canonists tried to achieve this by the introduction of more restrictions for contracting a new marriage after the first one had been terminated; the clerics and lawmakers in Bulgaria – by anathemizing the fourth et cetera marriages.

Keywords:

marriage, divorce, remarriage, canonical grounds for divorce, separation a mensa et thoro, annulment of marriage, adultery, integrity of marriage, canon law, second marriage, multiple marriages

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