Papacy, Monarchy and Marriage, 860–1600

2014

D avid D'Avray is well-established as a historian of medieval marriage, having already produced two important volumes on the topic. The first of these, Medieval Marriage Sermons: Mass Communication in an Age Without Print (OUP, 2001) provided an edition and analysis of mendicant sermons on marriage; the second, Medieval Marriage: Symbolism and Society (OUP, 2005), explored the significance of marriage as a symbol and a social force in eleventh-to thirteenth-century England. In his new volume, D'Avray explores another aspect of medieval marriage, namely the dissolution of royal marriages. Dissolving Royal Marriages: A Documentary History, 860-1600 povides a comparative overview of royal marriage dissolutions from the mid eighth-to the late sixteenth centuries, considering nineteen cases in which a royal couple (or at least one half of a couple) sought a papal dissolution of their union. The earliest case to be examined here is that of Lothar II of Burgundy, who in the 860s sought to set aside his wife Theutberga in order to return to his former concubine Waldrada; the latest is that of Henri IV of France, who at the very end of the sixteenth century secured an annulment of his childless marriage to Marguerite of Valois. In between, the volume covers annulments from across Europe, including both well-known examples (such as Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon) and lesser-known cases (such as Plaisance of Cyprus and Balian). The complete list of annulments examined

2009

2010

Argues that ecclesiastical "intervention" in the case of consanguineous marriages in the 11th century France and England happened normally at request of the parties (or interested third parties), and that the nobility from early on used the law to its own end. The idea that "the Church" tried to impose its "model" (Georges Duby) on an unwilling laity is highly implausible. In the famous case of Philip I, Duby can be shown to have made up some of his sources, and to have misinterpreted others.

Invited Lecture, Plantagenet Society of Australia, Turramurra Uniting Church, 20 July 2024.

Medieval divorce did not technically exist from approximately 1000 onwards. Marriages were annulled, which is a different situation; rather than ending, the marital relationship was declared to have been invalid and non-existent from the start.

The Plantagenet Chronicle, Vol. 26, No. 3, 2024, pp. 4-6.

We had a good turn-out for our 20 July mee􏰀ng with a few new faces. Prof Carole Cusack is the Plantagenet History Society’s Honorary President and head of Religious Studies at the University of Sydney. Carole took us through a history of divorce and annulment from the early years of the Chris􏰀an Church and how marriage changed over the years. Medieval divorce didn’t technically exist, though annulments were allowed.

Royal Studies Journal, 2021

1066 is a staple of narratives of medieval Europe. Less often discussed are the horizontal ties connecting its famous participants into a wider medieval Europe. This article will examine the runaway royals, male and female, from Anglo-Saxon England (and elsewhere), and how they sought support and alliances with Rus' and Ireland. Dynastic marriages were a staple of medieval European political interactions because they allowed rulers to give aid to other runaway rulers and to enhance their own political positions. Iaroslav the Wise of Rus' was well known for marrying his children to royals from throughout medieval Europe. His example demonstrates the guiding principle that marriages were often made by ruling families with perhaps little more than the hope that the subjects of the marriage, typically exiled royalty, would return to their home kingdoms and take the throne or some similar position of power. In Ireland, we see less a focus on marital relationships and more on martial ones, as Diarmait mac Máel na mBó of Dublin lent military aid and ships to the runaway Anglo-Saxons and others in a bid to help them, while also potentially enhancing his own position-much like the guiding principle seen in dynastic marriages. This article serves as a way to nuance and enrich the stories that we tell about medieval Europe; stories that demonstrate not just the traditional master narrative but the breadth of the web of medieval Europe.

Drawing on the extensive and underused body of legal records on marriage that exist in Europe's ecclesiastical and secular archives, Marriage in Europe, 1400-1800 examines the institution not just as it was theorized by jurists and theologians, but as it was lived in reality. A comparative history that examines England, France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, the Low Countries, and Sweden, this volume features the extensive and meticulous research of twelve leading international experts in the field. Their essays make use of material from thirty-one European archives, as well as a range of canons and decretals, poems, letters, novels, and treatises, to offer a history of marriage, both Catholic and Protestant. Edited by Silvana Seidel Menchi, this collection is an essential resource for those interested in the history of marriage in Christian Europe.

Church History 91.3, 2002

strategy in the region but rather responded to local petitions. Kirsi Salonen closes the volume with a consideration of late medieval Swedish bishops who did not particularly seek close contact with the papacy, at least if measured by visits to Rome; the demands on their time from their large and politically complex dioceses meant that they rarely travelled south beyond what was absolutely required. Any critiques of this volume are really occupational hazards of this type of collection: some essays fail to give an adequate introduction to the particular context examined, which means that the lay reader can feel a bit lost in a given case study. There are resonances between essays that remain tacit and unexplored-for example, the distance between contemporary rhetoric about episcopal office (courtier bishops, nepotism, etc.) and complex reality-which might have benefitted from a conclusion bookending Thomas's strong introduction and highlighting such recurring themes. Still, this remains a strong contribution to the field of late medieval episcopal studies and is particularly to be commended for its organizational structure, the geographical breadth of its detailed case studies, and the apparatus allowing for further exploration by readers.