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  • General question re: marriage dispensation/early 16th century

    From Jinny Wallerstedt/Girl 57@21:1/5 to All on Thu Dec 22 08:50:58 2022
    Hi, all. I'm looking at a dispensation that says the couple was granted permission to marry even though they were found to have been related in the third degree, not fourth (as originally stated). Can I pretty safely assume that this was a couple whose
    woman was of childbearing age? Or were couples of different degrees of consanguinity required to apply for a dispensation even if the woman was likely/certainly too old to have children? Or is there no safe assumption as the answers here varied from era
    to era, place to place, bishop to bishop, etc.? Have been reading about this but haven't yet found an answer to this particular question.

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  • From Jinny Wallerstedt/Girl 57@21:1/5 to [email protected] on Thu Dec 22 15:03:35 2022
    On Thursday, December 22, 2022 at 5:31:45 PM UTC-5, [email protected] wrote:
    On 23-Dec-22 3:50 AM, Jinny Wallerstedt/Girl 57 wrote:
    Hi, all. I'm looking at a dispensation that says the couple was granted permission to marry even though they were found to have been related in the third degree, not fourth (as originally stated). Can I pretty safely assume that this was a couple
    whose woman was of childbearing age? Or were couples of different degrees of consanguinity required to apply for a dispensation even if the woman was likely/certainly too old to have children? Or is there no safe assumption as the answers here varied
    from era to era, place to place, bishop to bishop, etc.? Have been reading about this but haven't yet found an answer to this particular question.

    The age of the prospective bride was not a consideration if she had
    reached the minimum qualifying age. The belief that God is omnipotent
    means that his will has no constraints, and therefore he may cause a
    woman to conceive a child at any age - as with Elizabeth, the mother at advanced age of John the Baptist (Luke's gospel says "they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken
    in years").

    Peter Stewart


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    Thank you, Peter. I hadn't thought of it from this (essential) angle, and of course it makes sense. I'm looking forward to a time when, with more knowledge, I'll more naturally think of issues like this in their entire historical and cultural context.
    Wishing you happy and peaceful holidays.

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  • From Peter Stewart@21:1/5 to All on Fri Dec 23 09:31:44 2022
    On 23-Dec-22 3:50 AM, Jinny Wallerstedt/Girl 57 wrote:
    Hi, all. I'm looking at a dispensation that says the couple was granted permission to marry even though they were found to have been related in the third degree, not fourth (as originally stated). Can I pretty safely assume that this was a couple whose
    woman was of childbearing age? Or were couples of different degrees of consanguinity required to apply for a dispensation even if the woman was likely/certainly too old to have children? Or is there no safe assumption as the answers here varied from era
    to era, place to place, bishop to bishop, etc.? Have been reading about this but haven't yet found an answer to this particular question.


    The age of the prospective bride was not a consideration if she had
    reached the minimum qualifying age. The belief that God is omnipotent
    means that his will has no constraints, and therefore he may cause a
    woman to conceive a child at any age - as with Elizabeth, the mother at advanced age of John the Baptist (Luke's gospel says "they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken
    in years").

    Peter Stewart


    --
    This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software.
    www.avg.com

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