Cecilia Cristellon – författare

This book investigates the actions of marriage tribunals by analyzing the richest source of marriage suits extant in Italy, those of the Venetian ecclesiastical tribunal, between 1420 and the opening of the Council of Trent. It offers a strongly representative overview of the changes the Council introduced to centuries-old marriage practices, relegating it to the realm of marginality and deviance and nearly erasing the memory of it altogether. From the eleventh century onward, the Church assured itself of a jurisdictional monopoly over the matter of marriage, operating both in concert and in conflict with secular authorities by virtue of marriage’s civil consequences, the first of which regarded the legitimacy of children. Secular tribunals were responsible for patrimonial matters between spouses, though the Church at times inserted itself into these matters either directly, by substituting itself for the secular authority, or indirectly, by influencing Rulings through their own sentences. Lay magistratures, for their part, somewhat eroded the authority of ecclesiastical tribunals by continuing to exercise autonomous jurisdiction over marriage, especially regarding separation and crimes strictly connected to the nuptial bond and its definition, including adultery, bigamy, and rape.

This book investigates the actions of marriage tribunals by analyzing the richest source of marriage suits extant in Italy, those of the Venetian ecclesiastical tribunal, between 1420 and the opening of the Council of Trent. It offers a strongly representative overview of the changes the Council introduced to centuries-old marriage practices, relegating it to the realm of marginality and deviance and nearly erasing the memory of it altogether. From the eleventh century onward, the Church assured itself of a jurisdictional monopoly over the matter of marriage, operating both in concert and in conflict with secular authorities by virtue of marriage’s civil consequences, the first of which regarded the legitimacy of children. Secular tribunals were responsible for patrimonial matters between spouses, though the Church at times inserted itself into these matters either directly, by substituting itself for the secular authority, or indirectly, by influencing Rulings through their own sentences. Lay magistratures, for their part, somewhat eroded the authority of ecclesiastical tribunals by continuing to exercise autonomous jurisdiction over marriage, especially regarding separation and crimes strictly connected to the nuptial bond and its definition, including adultery, bigamy, and rape.

Menschenwürde und Grundrechte werden häufig als Phänomen des 20. Jahrhunderts charakterisiert. Doch erstmals wurden diese Normen in Antike und frühem Christentum benannt und charakterisiert, wie dieser Band zeigt. Die Beiträge beschäftigen sich mit der Entwicklung der Grundrechte im Europa der Frühen Neuzeit und erörtern die Frage nach deren Bedeutung und Dimension aus theologischer, historischer und rechtshistorischer Perspektive. Ausgehend von Untersuchungen der juristischen und theologischen Dimension von Begriffen wie »Gewissen« oder »Gerechtigkeit« bietet der Band einen Einblick in die frühneuzeitliche Erfahrung von Grundrechten und in die auf Normenvielfalt innerhalb der christlichen Konfessionen und des Judentums beruhenden Praktiken, die bisweilen damit verbunden wurden.Human dignity and basic rights have often been characterised as phenomena of the 20th century. However, as this volume will show, these norms were firstly described and characterised in the ancient era and early Christianity. The contributions focus on the development of the basic rights in Europe in the early modern ages and discuss their meaning and dimension from a theological, historical and legal-historical perspective. Based on legal and theological analyses of terms such as "consciousness" or "justice" this volume offers an insight in early modern experiences of basic rights in various norms within the Christian confessions and Judaism and its related methods.