I tribunali del matrimonio (secoli XV–XVIII) (review)

This is the fourth and final volume of publications resulting from the biannual meetings between 1997 and 2001 of an international group of social and legal historians of marital litigation. In this final work the editors of this important project take stock of what has been accomplished before treating us to a series of fascinating case studies that contain important comparative dimensions with the Protestant areas of Europe as well as Jewish law and practice.

The editors launch part 1 of the book. Professor Seidel-Menchi traces the development and accomplishments of the seminar. (This author was an active participant.) Among the conclusions with broader implications are those which delineate differences in pre-Trent and post-Trent litigation. There were far more cases of uncertainty about the validity of marriage before the great Council of Theologians tightened the rules about how to marry in 1563. After Trent, it appears, tentatively, it was easier to obtain a legal separation in Catholic territories than to obtain a divorce in Protestant ones. There is a great bibliography on marriage and sexuality for scholarly reference in the notes of this introductory article, as well as at the end of the book. In the second article in part 1, Professor Quaglioni, who directed the seminar's legal studies, elaborates on marriage rituals and symbolism in law and juridical culture. Part 2 of the book reviews the archival sources and catalogues the major themes the collections hold. A small group of researchers (Giovanni Ciappelli, Cecelia Cristellon, Valeria Chilese, Marina Poian, Ulderico Parente, Pierroberto Scaramella, Luca Faoro) sorted out the myriad of ecclesiastical and secular tribunals concerned with marital litigation throughout medieval and early modern Italy and mapped their activity in the five major collections in Venice, Verona, Trent, Feltre, and Naples. For the sixteenth century the sources focus on pre-Tridentine rituals in Venice, episcopal visits in Verona, disciplining women in Feltre, underage wives in Naples, and bigamy in Naples; for the seventeenth century, violence and the role of Neapolitan judges; and for the eighteenth century, breach of promise suits in Trent. Susanna Burghartz offers a comparative study of the marriage tribunals of Reformation Switzerland and southern Germany. Part 3 of the book features the legal, sacramental, and ritual dimensions of marriage (Urs Baumann, Ludwig Schmugge, Giuliano Marchetto), comparing canon with Jewish law (Roni Weinstein) and practices (Cristina Galazzo). Part 4 is devoted to individual case studies in Italy (Christine Meek for Lucca, Ermanno Orlando for Padua, Anna Espoisito for Rome, Lucia Ferrante for Bologna, Elena Papagna for Trani), with comparison to the Weser region of northwest Germany (Anke Hufschmidt). Part 5 features studies of moral crimes in the courts (Elena Brambilla, Daniela Lombardi) and the relationship between seduction and defloration (Giorgia Alessi). Manon Van dei Heijden offers a comparative perspective on disciplining marriage in early modern Holland. The sixth and final section of the book is devoted to the iconography of marriage (Silvana Seidel Menchi, Beatrice Paolozzi Strozzi) and to parish writings in Venice (Francesca Cavazzana Romanelli).

The study of marital litigation over the years has delineated far more than the boundaries between healthy and failed marriage. It has illuminated the complexities of church-state relations and the plurality of ecclesiastical and secular tribunals in Italy; the importance of community control as well as Catholic confession in regulating sexuality; the ways in which the body has defined women; the multiple forms of cohabitation, including concubinage; and the nuanced rhetoric of love, seduction, and rape in legal sources. Readers of Italian will want to review all four volumes. Others may certainly benefit from the international bibliography of authors. Professors Seidel-Menchi and Quaglioni have admirably advanced our knowledge of the social and legal history of marriage in Italy from medieval to early modern times.