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Tvång och rädsla. Om äktenskapshinder i medeltida kanonisk rätt

Christensen-Nugues, Charlotte LU (2008) p.168-178
Abstract
According to medieval canon law, a marriage could be declared invalid if the consent had been given through force or fear. This ruling was a natural consequence of the insistence on free consent as the only requirement for a valid marriage. It did, however, entail a number of both practical and theoretical problems. It could be difficult to prove force and fear within the family, but also to define what should count as sufficient force and fear to render a marriage non valid. In Roman law, the fictional figure of the ”constant man” was used to determine different degrees of coercion. The constant man standard was however difficult to use in marriage cases that often involved very young people, dependent on those most likely to use force... (More)
According to medieval canon law, a marriage could be declared invalid if the consent had been given through force or fear. This ruling was a natural consequence of the insistence on free consent as the only requirement for a valid marriage. It did, however, entail a number of both practical and theoretical problems. It could be difficult to prove force and fear within the family, but also to define what should count as sufficient force and fear to render a marriage non valid. In Roman law, the fictional figure of the ”constant man” was used to determine different degrees of coercion. The constant man standard was however difficult to use in marriage cases that often involved very young people, dependent on those most likely to use force and fear against them

In this article, I examine - through the development of papal legislation in force and fear cases and their subsequent commentary - how the constant man standard was reinterpreted during the Middle Ages, and how social reality and the requirement of freedom in spiritual matters redefined the concepts of coercion and consent. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
force and fear, medieval canon law, marriage
host publication
Förklaringar och förbistringar : festskrift till Anders Piltz
editor
Beskow, Per ; borgehammar, Stephan and Jönsson, Arne
pages
168 - 178
publisher
Skåneförlaget
ISBN
91-87976-29-3
language
Swedish
LU publication?
yes
id
cf3d7c9c-0db8-4a17-afb0-72620733d7c9 (old id 1274631)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 11:18:42
date last changed
2018-11-21 21:04:01
@inbook{cf3d7c9c-0db8-4a17-afb0-72620733d7c9,
  abstract     = {{According to medieval canon law, a marriage could be declared invalid if the consent had been given through force or fear. This ruling was a natural consequence of the insistence on free consent as the only requirement for a valid marriage. It did, however, entail a number of both practical and theoretical problems. It could be difficult to prove force and fear within the family, but also to define what should count as sufficient force and fear to render a marriage non valid. In Roman law, the fictional figure of the ”constant man” was used to determine different degrees of coercion. The constant man standard was however difficult to use in marriage cases that often involved very young people, dependent on those most likely to use force and fear against them <br/><br>
In this article, I examine - through the development of papal legislation in force and fear cases and their subsequent commentary - how the constant man standard was reinterpreted during the Middle Ages, and how social reality and the requirement of freedom in spiritual matters redefined the concepts of coercion and consent.}},
  author       = {{Christensen-Nugues, Charlotte}},
  booktitle    = {{Förklaringar och förbistringar : festskrift till Anders Piltz}},
  editor       = {{Beskow, Per and borgehammar, Stephan and Jönsson, Arne}},
  isbn         = {{91-87976-29-3}},
  keywords     = {{force and fear; medieval canon law; marriage}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  pages        = {{168--178}},
  publisher    = {{Skåneförlaget}},
  title        = {{Tvång och rädsla. Om äktenskapshinder i medeltida kanonisk rätt}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}