Family And Marriage

Question 1

How old were elite women when they married?

Answer 1

Between 13 and 18

Question 2

How old were elite men when they married?

Answer 2

Mid twenties

Question 3

How old were not elite people when they married?

Answer 3

Early to mid twenties

Question 4

How many people who married had married before?

Answer 4

As many as half

Question 5

What did the later age of marriage between commoners mean?

Answer 5

They had extended adolescence which was spent in apprenticeship

Question 6

who were elite marriages closely controlled by?

Answer 6

heads of families

Question 7

what was the sacramental bond of marriage created by?

Answer 7

consent alone-marriage vows did not have to be exchanged in church nor was a priest’s presence required

Question 8

what was needed to prove the marriage in a church court?

Answer 8

two witnesses

Question 9

what were the two types of contract?

Answer 9

present and future

Question 10

what registered future contracts binding?

Answer 10

consummation
an unconsummated future contract could be broken up by mutual consent or if one partner made a present contract with another person

Question 11

what was a contract usually followed by?

Answer 11

solemnisation

Question 12

once entered how could a marriage be dissolved?

Answer 12

only through death

Question 13

how did divorce work?

Answer 13

it did not dissolve a marriage it only meant that the couple were no longer required to live together
people who were divorced could not re-marry so long as the other person lived

Question 14

what did divorce end?

Answer 14

the obligation to have sex

Question 15

why were not all couples free to render consent?

Answer 15

impediments

Question 16

what did impediments include?

Answer 16

a previous marriage, force to enter contract, blood relationship, affinity (relationship created by sexual union but not limited to marriage), impotence (inability to have sex)

Question 17

what was a contract made in private known as?

Answer 17

a marriage before God

Question 18

what was the only way in which a present tense contract could be broken?

Answer 18

through the existence of an impediment

Question 19

what were clandestine marriages?

Answer 19

those that were improperly solemnised

Question 20

what were the couple to ask parish priests once they agreed to marry?

Answer 20

to announce before the congregation on a Sunday that the two in question intended to enter into marriage-this was to flush out any impediments
After banns had been proclaimed 3 times and if no one came forth to declare an impediment solemnization could proceed

Question 21

what happened to priests who solemnised marriages where an impediment had been called?

Answer 21

he was liable to be summoned to explain himself before the Commissary court

Question 22

who kept a close eye on the couple between the contract and solemnisation?

Answer 22

the public to make sure that they were not breaking any of the marriage sacraments

Question 23

what was the approved liturgy during solemnisation known as?

Answer 23

the sarum rite

Question 24

how did marriage patterns differ between rural and urban areas?

Answer 24

a greater proportion of those living in rural areas married earlier than those living in towns

Question 25

what strata of society was clandestine marriage more common for?

Answer 25

the lower strata

Question 26

what did clandestine marriage provide an escape from?

Answer 26

an unwelcome betrothal | in practice clandestine marriage made it possible for people to contract and dissolve their own marriages

Question 27

who did the lower classes usually have their weddings witnessed by?

Answer 27

the clergy

Question 28

who did the upper classes usually have their weddings witnessed by?

Answer 28

a notary

Question 29

what did both clergy and laity believe was essential to marriage?

Answer 29

the ability to have sex

Question 30

when did most couples consummate their marriage?

Answer 30

before the formal ceremony

Question 31

what were routinely used to terminate informal separations?

Answer 31

marital affection orders which required couples to re-establish sexual relationships under the pain of excommunication

Question 32

what was the innovation in divorce practice granted because of hatred?

Answer 32

granted the separation of residence but continued to demand the marital debt

Question 33

what did the church strongly oppose granting divorce on the grounds of?

Answer 33

adultery

Question 34

what did the 5th Lateran council prohibit?

Answer 34

concubinage among the laity

Question 35

what was the punishment for those convicted of concubinage?

Answer 35

fines (which increased if the man was married) sometimes supplemented by public penitential acts

Question 36

what happened to tenants who brought concubines into premises they had leased?

Answer 36

they violated a term of the agreement and was liable to lose his title to the leased property and could be evicted by the landlord

Question 37

what was a concubine who removed property from her consort guilty of?

Answer 37

theft

Question 38

what did the many cases of concubinage represent?

Answer 38

a viable alternative to marriage for those who lacked resources to enter into a formal agreement

Question 39

what did church courts require of men who had seduced unmarried women?

Answer 39

the provision of a dowry to the woman

Question 40

who was at fault when a woman committed adultery?

Answer 40

her husband it was customary for female adulterers to be dealt with privately from her husband while male adulterers were often handed over to the courts

Question 41

what did adulterous wives forfeit?

Answer 41

the claims to their husbands estates

Question 42

what did a husband who killed his adulterous wife forfeit?

Answer 42

his claim to her dowry

Question 43

what was a male adulterer whose mistress conceived a child obliged to do?

Answer 43

compensate her husband for the upbringing of the child

Question 44

who became increasingly involved in the organisation of brothels?

Answer 44

town and city governments

Question 45

what 4 categories did prostitutes fall into?

Answer 45

top tier-respected inmates of public brothels second tier-workers in bathhouses third tier-strumpets who worked in bordellos fourth tier-streetwalkers who were individual entrepreneurs

Question 46

what were the earnings of prostitutes generally subject to?

Answer 46

taxation from municipal councils and occasionally the church

Question 47

how was prostitution regulated to specific areas of a city?

Answer 47

by laws which dictated which clothes they wore and restrictions on dwelling places certain towns forbade prostitutes from appearing in public during certain seasons of the year

Question 48

how did towns consider prostitution?

Answer 48

as a civic industry | therefore they were anxious to curb the activities of entrepreneurs who were not part of the local establishment

Question 49

what were the most common punishments for convicted rapists?

Answer 49

fines and imprisonment

Question 50

how did the social status of women effect the punishment of rapists?

Answer 50

the higher status of the women who was raped, the more severe the punishment

Question 51

how did legal writers view rape within marriage?

Answer 51

it was not considered a crime

Question 52

where was homosexuality most prevalent?

Answer 52

among clergy and students

Question 53

what were the punishments for homosexuality?

Answer 53

burnings and beheadings

Question 54

how did age effect the punishment for sodomy?

Answer 54

the older the culprit the more severe the punishment

Question 55

what happened to clerics who refused to renounce their concubines?

Answer 55

they were to be deprived of their benefices, suspended from clerical status and deprived of any offices they may hold

Question 56

why may authorities have feared stricter rules and punishments against clerical sex?

Answer 56

they feared a mass exodus of clergy from their ministry

Question 57

who did church courts face growing competition from in the control of sex and marriage?

Answer 57

civic courts

Question 58

how did the public view consummation?

Answer 58

they continued to believe that a marriage had to be fully consummated before it was valid

Question 59

how were clerical concubines more than sex partners?

Answer 59

their labor was vital to the household economy | clerics relied on women to manage the home, land and side business as well as help out in the parish

Question 60

how did the community treat clerical concubines?

Answer 60

as legitimate spouses | clerical unions were often well received in peasant villages as the concubine usually had ties with the community

Question 61

what effected the tolerance for clerical unions?

Answer 61

clerical culture, lack of ecclesiastical reforms at local level, prosecutorial focus of the bishop’s court on clerical violence and disputes over benefices, lack of royal support for reforming clergy

Question 62

what was the occupation most commonly associated with clerical concubines?

Answer 62

domestic service

Question 63

what did clerical unions resemble?

Answer 63

lay marriages

Question 64

what effected a concubines relationship with parishioners?

Answer 64

her family history and ties to the community, her sexual history, and her behaviour all affected her relations with the parishioners and likely determined her ultimate acceptance in the community

Question 65

how were clerical concubines more secure than lay concubines?

Answer 65

they could not be replaced by a wife

Question 66

how did some clerics disguise their continuing relationships with concubines?

Answer 66

my marrying them to other men

Question 67

what is a companionate marriage?

Answer 67

the union of an adult woman and man who had freely chosen to wed, principally in pursuit of both romance and friendship and who imagined their union to be a partnership fuelled by mutual interests, shared activities and sustained desire

Question 68

why was companionate marriage fashioned as an ideal?

Answer 68

commerce made property moveable and separate from the land as never before meaning couples had to be good managers and work as a team