Relations between the Spouses and between Parents and Children according to the Church Law in Bulgaria and Catholic Europe (12th–14th Centuries)

Authors:

Pages: 70-80

Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to make clear the stand of the Church in medieval Bulgaria, as belonging to the Orthodox tradition, and in Catholic Europe on the problems of the family relations on the basis of texts from three collections of church law: the Alphabetical Sintagma by Mathew Vlastar, the Decretum Gratiani and the Decretales Gregorii IX. The analysis of texts from the three mentioned collections shows that most thoroughly the problem of the relations between the spouses is discussed in Gratian’s Decretum. For the canonist from Bologna it is beyond doubt that according to the God’s law man is woman’s head just like Christ is the head of the Church. A similar position defends Mathew Vlastar in the Sintagma in his comment on the way of betrothing sons and daughters who have not come of age. In contrast to the Sintagma in the collections of Western church law vital interest is shown in the problem of the fulfilment of the marital duties. Proceeding from the importance of the conjugal debt for the prevention of illicit extramarital sexual relations of the marital partners the canonists defend the stand that the spouses have equal rights as far as their mutual marital duties are concerned. The Sintagma and the Decretales Gregorii IX deal with such problems as the woman’s dos and the wedding gifts, so important from the point of view of the economic relations in the family, as well as the legitimacy of the offspring and their right to inherit. In spite of the fact that they give prominence to different aspects of family relations the compilers of the three collections have made efforts to lay down basic principles of relations between family members taking up their stand on the Holy Scriptures, the opinions and decrees of holy fathers and church authorities, and the civil law.

Keywords:

family relations, church law, spouses, conjugal debt, woman’s dos, legitimacy of offspring

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