Iubirea între divorț și căsătorie. Studii de caz in mediul ortodox transilvanean
Love, between divorce and marriage. Case studies from the Orthodox Transilvanian Area

Summary/Abstract: In the mid 19th Century, within the Romanian Transylvanian space, divorce, unlike marriage, rarely occurred, as a natural part of social evolution. The present survey has attempted, based on divorce trials, to reconstruct motivation in a reversed order, from divorce to marriage, and disseminate the factors that contributed to the failure of those marriages. An interesting aspect from the outset was that of the complexity of the causes that led to failure, even though before the church forums the fault or mistake easiest to be invoked by the religious code of laws was sought, by its very obvious and easily proving nature. The main reasons for divorce are those encountered throughout Transylvania and beyond: the lack of love that led to extra conjugal relationships, the obsession for material stability, problems related to alcoholism or violent physical or verbal behavior. We must not elude here the role of certain families which impose their views, especially related to: marriage within the community, the provision of a good material condition through dowry consisting of land, money or other material means. Love, little mentioned, is substituted by a large family of words, which should have ensured a balance between physical desire and relative material welfare. The problem was aggravated when material wealth was preferred and became a substitute for marriage guarantee. In the 23 divorce cases analyzed, love, including its meaning of fulfilling one of the greatest sacraments of the church, which required the respect and understanding of the believers involved, has been a great absence.

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