The Relativity of Kinship and Gender-Specific Logics in the Context of Marriage Dispensations in the Nineteenth-Century Alps (Diocese of Brixen)
Abstract
This article aims, first, to identify the specific characteristics of the canon law concept of kinship and incest and compare it with those of other religions and Christian denominations. It considers in particular nineteenth-century requests for dispensations which sought licence for marriage at close degrees of consanguinity and affinity, specifically from the diocese of Brixen (which includes present-day South Tirol (Italy) but also today’s North and East Tirol as well as Vorarlberg (Austria)). It examines arguments put forth by bridal couples and their witnesses which sought to minimise the kinship relationship between the prospective spouses. Finally, it considers the gender-specific character of the officially recognised reasons for granting a dispensation and discusses their consequences. It concludes that most of the classic reasons for dispensations valid during the early modern period and the nineteenth century were focused on women.
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