Published: 2025-06-20

The introduction of canonical marriage in America in the 16th century. An outline of historical and canonical analysis

Piotr Ryguła
Ius Matrimoniale
Section: Rozprawy i artykuły
https://doi.org/10.21697/im.2025.36.1.06

Abstract

The discovery of America is widely regarded as the dividing line between the Middle Ages and modern times. The encounter between the Old and New Worlds forced Europeans to rethink their own culture, including the legal institutions that had developed within it, such as the institution of marriage. Christianity in ancient and medieval Europe created its own culture based on revelation and natural law. It was formed in contact with non-Christian cultures: ancient Rome and later the peoples who came to Europe during the migration period. The law, which in Christianity has always been an emanation of the faith professed, shaped the life of the community of believers, including married life. Within this law, in the period of so-called classical canon law, a system of marriage law appropriate to Christianity was developed in confrontation with non-Christian models of marriage. Marriage, based on natural law, was understood as a monogamous, indissoluble union between a man and a woman. After the discovery of America and the cultures of its people, the idea of marriage understood in this way was confronted with the unstable and polygamous unions of the people living across the Atlantic Ocean. This article is an outline of a historical and canonical analysis of the process of introducing canonical marriage to the American continent, limited to the 16th century.

Keywords:

marriage, canonical marriage, natural marriage, history of the institution of marriage, Pauline privilege, privilege in favorem fidei, missions

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Ryguła, P. (2025). The introduction of canonical marriage in America in the 16th century. An outline of historical and canonical analysis. Ius Matrimoniale, 36(1), 133–157. https://doi.org/10.21697/im.2025.36.1.06

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