How Marriage Became One of the Sacraments: The Sacramental Theology of Marriage from its Medieval Origins to the Council of Trent

1082 Pages·2016·6.96 MB·English

by  Philip L. Reynolds

how marriage became one of the sacraments
Among the contributions of the medieval church to western culture was the idea that
marriagewasoneofthesevensacraments,whichdefinedtheroleofmarriedfolkinthe
church.Althoughtheideahadancientroots,thisnewwayofregardingmarriageraised
many problems, to which scholastic theologians applied all their ingenuity. By the late
MiddleAges,thedoctrinewasfullyestablishedinChristianthoughtandpracticebutnot
yet as dogma. In the sixteenth century, with the entire Catholic teaching on marriage
and celibacy and its associated law and jurisdiction under attack by the Protestant
reformers, the Council of Trent defined the doctrine as a dogma of faith for the first
timebutmademajorchangestoit.Ratherthanfocusingonaparticularaspectofthese
intellectual and institutional developments, this book examines them in depth and in
detailfromtheirancientprecedentstotheCouncilofTrent.
philip l. reynolds has taught at Emory University, Atlanta since 1992, where he is
Aquinas Professor of Historical Theology. He is also a senior fellow of Emory's Center
for the Study of Law and Religion, and he directed CSLR's five-year project on The
PursuitofHappiness(2006–2011).

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How Marriage Became One of the
Sacraments
the sacramental theology of marriage from
its medieval origins to the council of trent
PHILIP L. REYNOLDS
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Firstpublished2016
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
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Reynolds,PhilipLyndon,1950–
Howmarriagebecameoneofthesacraments:thesacramentaltheologyofmarriagefrom
itsmedievaloriginstotheCouncilofTrent/byPhilipL.Reynolds.
pagescm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-1-107-14615-0(Hardback:alk.paper)
1. Marriage–Historyofdoctrines–MiddleAges,600-1500. 2. Sacraments–Historyof
doctrines–MiddleAges,600-1500. 3. CouncilofTrent(1545–1563:Trento,Italy) I. Title.
bt706.r492015
2340.16509–dc23 2015032527
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Contents
Listof plates page xix
Listof abbreviations xxi
Preface and acknowledgments xxv
1 Marriage asa sacrament 1
1.1 The development inretrospect 2
1.2 Holy matrimony before 1100 12
1.3 The seven sacraments 21
1.4 Marriage asone ofthe sacraments 28
1.5 Ecclesiastical jurisdiction 33
1.6 Concomitantsof the sacramental doctrine 40
1.6.1 Indissolubility 41
1.6.2 Solus consensus 43
1.6.3 The impediments ofrelationship 51
1.7 Marriage as the sacrament ofChrist andthe church 53
1.7.1 Sacrament,sign, andfigure 54
1.7.2 Figurative marriage 57
1.7.3 Ephesians 5:22–33and its reception 62
1.7.3.1 Paul’s argument 62
1.7.3.2 Patristic reception 65
1.7.3.3 Reception after 1100 68
1.7.4 The Sacramentum-res relation in argument 69
1.7.5 Conclusions andsuggestions 81
1.8 The sacrament ofmarriage inimagination 84
1.8.1 Seven-sacrament cycles 86
1.8.2 The Vérardwoodcut 87
1.8.3 Dextrarum iunctio 89
vii
viii Contents
1.8.4 Diagram ofthe spiritualjourneyoflife
(BL Additional MS 37049) 93
1.8.5 The role ofthe priest 95
part i augustine 99
2 Marriagein Augustine’swritings 101
2.1 An overview of Augustine’stheology ofmarriage 102
2.2 The issues that occasioned Augustine’s work on marriage 103
2.2.1 The Manichees andthe goodness ofmarriage 103
2.2.2 Jovinian 107
2.2.3 Pollentius 110
2.2.4 Pelagianism and Julian ofEclanum 113
2.3 The medieval receptionof Augustine 117
3 Bonum prolis, bonum fidei:Theutility of marriage 120
3.1 Bonum prolis: Procreation 120
3.2 Bonumfidei: The remedy for concupiscence 125
3.3 Summary: The storyofmarriage 132
4 Bonum sacramenti:Thesanctity and insolubility of marriage 134
4.1 Marriage as an amicable partnership 135
4.2 The marriage ofMary and Joseph 139
4.3 Bonum sacramenti 142
4.3.1 The bonditself 143
4.3.2 The law ofdivorce 148
4.3.3 The bondas sacrament 150
4.4 Marriage asa sacred sign 151
part ii getting married: betrothal, consent, and
consummation 155
5 Betrothaland consent 157
5.1 Traditional marriage 159
5.1.1 The typical pattern 159
5.1.2 Old Semitic marriage 162
5.2 Betrothal and consentin Roman law 164
5.2.1 The Roman betrothal 165
5.2.2 The peculiarities ofmarriage inclassical law 169
5.2.3 Whose consent? 171
5.2.4 Bare consent 173
Contents ix
5.2.5 The law of betrothalin lateantiquity 176
5.2.6 Early-Christian betrothal 178
5.3 The nuptialprocess in the early Middle Ages 181
5.3.1 Marrying inVisigothic culture 183
5.3.2 Marrying inFrankish culture 185
5.3.3 Pope Nicholas I on marriage in the west 186
5.4 Ivo of Chartres onconsent andbetrothal 188
5.4.1 Consent tomarry 189
5.4.2 Betrothal as animpedimentto marriage 191
5.4.3 The betrothal ofinfants 194
5.4.4 Betrothal as virtual marriage 197
5.5 The emergence of the betrothaldistinction 199
5.5.1 Earlyformsof the betrothal distinction 200
5.5.2 The distinction of tense 204
5.5.3 The purposeof the betrothal distinction 206
6 Consummation 209
6.1 The ideaof consummation 210
6.2 Originsof the coital proof texts 217
6.2.1 The remote source: Pope Leo’s reply to Rusticus 218
6.2.2 The proximate source: Hincmar ofReims 222
6.2.3 The derivation ofthe coitalproof texts 230
6.3 The coitalproof textsin the Magistri moderni 231
6.4 Gratian’stheory 233
6.4.1 The role ofcoitusin marrying 233
6.4.2 The role ofthe nuptial blessing 239
6.4.3 Gratianandconsent 240
7 From competing theories to common doctrine in the twelfth century 244
7.1 The terms of the scholarly debate (c.1150–c.1180) 245
7.2 The consummation theory in the Bolognese tradition 250
7.2.1 Decretists before Rufinus 250
7.2.2 Rufinus andJohannes Faventinus 253
7.3 The betrothal theory in French canon law 258
7.3.1 The Summa Parisiensis andStephen ofTournai 258
7.3.2 Summa Coloniensis 260
7.3.3 Marrying: Event orgraduated process? 264
7.4 The civilians’Deductiotheory 266
7.5 Vacarius’sTraditio theory 268
7.6 The commondoctrine 278
7.6.1 The decretals of Pope AlexanderIII 279