Utjecaj crkvenih normi na bračni život (Istra od kraja 15. do sredine 17. stoljeća)
The influence of Church norms on marital life (Istria from the end of the 15th to the mid 17th centuries)

Summary/Abstract: In the Middle Ages and the Early Modern era, the secular and clerical authorities endeavoured to control the lives of people. Thus, the regulations which both of these authorities adopted did indeed greatly influence the lives of individuals. The Church norms that influenced the marital life of spouses are analyzed herein. In this regard, the selection of a marital partner, the existence of obstacles to marriage, the period for concluding marriage and the conduct of intimate relations, divorce and annulment of marriage and marital conflicts and, finally, life in concubinage are all considered. The rules of the clerical and secular authorities governing the selection of marital partners contradicted each other, since the clerical rules insisted on the free will of the spouses, while the secular authorities deferred to the will of the parents and families. This work shows how this selection was carried out in practice, i.e., it is apparent that families attempted to influence the selection of the marital partners of their children, as well as the fact that the potential newlyweds often took matters into their own hands and decided for themselves who they would marry, notwithstanding the possibility of repercussions if their families did not approve of the choice, primarily by disinheritance. Clerical law-makers also regulated the criteria for the conclusion of marriage, including cases in which certain obstacles thereto existed, such as kinship between the potential newlyweds (consanguineous, affinal, spiritual or adoptive), which appears as the most common obstruction in the analyzed sources, followed by the legal age at which one may marry, a previous, undissolved marriage, impotence, etc. that would bar marriage or require special permission before marriage could be concluded. Furthermore, clerical law also regulated the periods in the year in which marriage could or could not be concluded, and intimate relations practiced, and these were mainly Advent and Lent, but also other times. The sources show that the norms were observed with a view to the conclusion of marriage, since this was visible to the wider public, while the practice of intimate relations was much more difficult to control, so it depended much more upon the lifestyles and activities of the spouses than on clerical norms. Even after marriage was concluded, strife between the partners in marital life often emerged in practice. Clerical norms therefore also foresaw the conditions in which marriage could be annulled, and in which divorce from bed and board could be instituted, although in such cases the marital bond remained intact, so the separated spouses could not remarry. The sources show that divorce most often ensued when a woman was subjected to violence in the marriage and this actually meant saving the woman’s life and existence. The research is based on the court records of the clerical and secularcourts and on individual private legal documents (wills, contracts, etc.).

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