Until death sets us apart. Church, marriage and ius postliminii

 The essay presents one aspect of the genesis of Christian marriage as a holy and indissoluble sacrament. The ancient Romans considered marriage to be a kind of factual state in essence similar to possession. Falling into slavery of one of the spouses resulted in its immediate extinction. Regaining freedom by a spouse did not automatically reactivate the marriage. In order to renew it, both parties had to submit a declaration. From the beginning, the teaching of the Fathers of the Church emphasized the indissolubility of marriage and taught that the loss of freedom in no way affects its existence. This vision was fully adopted and developed by medieval canon law.

Keywords: conubium, ius postliminii, Roman law, canon law, medieval legal codes, medieval legal miniatures, iconography


This article is published in Polish