Authors:
- Investigates Venetian matrimonial tribunals from 1420 until the opening of the Council of Trent in 1545
- Systematically explores the tribunal's activities during this crucial epoch for the first time
- Offers an account of changes introduced by the Council and their tumultuous effects
Part of the book series: Early Modern History: Society and Culture (EMH)
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Table of contents (7 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
About this book
This book investigates the actions of marriage tribunals by analyzing the richest source of marriage suits extant in Italy, those of the Venetian ecclesiastical tribunal, between 1420 and the opening of the Council of Trent. It offers a strongly representative overview of the changes the Council introduced to centuries-old marriage practices, relegating it to the realm of marginality and deviance and nearly erasing the memory of it altogether. From the eleventh century onward, the Church assured itself of a jurisdictional monopoly over the matter of marriage, operating both in concert and in conflict with secular authorities by virtue of marriage’s civil consequences, the first of which regarded the legitimacy of children. Secular tribunals were responsible for patrimonial matters between spouses, though the Church at times inserted itself into these matters either directly, by substituting itself for the secular authority, or indirectly, by influencing Rulings through their own sentences. Lay magistratures, for their part, somewhat eroded the authority of ecclesiastical tribunals by continuing to exercise autonomous jurisdiction over marriage, especially regarding separation and crimes strictly connected to the nuptial bond and its definition, including adultery, bigamy, and rape.
Reviews
“Scholars of marital litigation in Europe for the pre-Tridentine period will find this attentive study to be an essential road map to understanding the institutional and legal framework of judicial records. It is an excellent complement to Charles Donahue’s work for England and that of Richard Helmholz and other scholars for the tribunals of the German Empire. It also includes a very useful comprehensive bibliography of secondary works.” (Joanne M. Ferraro, Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 72 (4), 2019)
Authors and Affiliations
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Max Planck Institute for European Legal History, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Cecilia Cristellon
About the author
Cecilia Cristellon is Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies at Konstanz University, Germany and Research Fellow in Early Modern History in the Cluster of Excellence on ‘The Formation of Normative Orders’ in Frankfurt am Main.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Marriage, the Church, and its Judges in Renaissance Venice, 1420-1545
Authors: Cecilia Cristellon
Series Title: Early Modern History: Society and Culture
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-38800-7
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: History, History (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-38799-4Published: 02 May 2017
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-81749-1Published: 17 July 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-38800-7Published: 21 April 2017
Series ISSN: 2947-9061
Series E-ISSN: 2947-907X
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XVII, 286
Additional Information: Translated from the Italian edition: La carità e l'eros. Il matrimonio, la Chiesa, i suoi giudici nella Venezia del Rinascimento (1420-1545) (Annali dell'Istituto storico italo-germanico in Trento. Monografie, 58) Bologna: il Mulino 2010.
Topics: History of Medieval Europe, History of Italy, Religion and Society, Legal History, Social History