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yapper

Joined: 25 Nov 2021
Replies: 52

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Posted: Sat May 25, 2024 2:15 pm Post subject: Marriage dispensations

My understanding is that marriage dispensations were required for the following:

Consanguinity - Too close a blood relationship
Time - Marriage during a prohibited period, such as Lent and Advent
Place - Marriage in other than the bride's parish
Religion - One party not Catholic

If the marriage record states that a dispensation was granted, how does one locate the corresponding backup documentation (priest letter, I presume) that details which one of the above was the reason for such dispensation??

dnowicki
PO Top Contributor

Joined: 28 Dec 2011
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Location: Michigan City, Indiana
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Posted: Sun May 26, 2024 6:08 am Post subject: Re: Marriage dispensations

yapper wrote:

Hi yapper,

Of the four examples you listed only two of them required dispensations. They were consanguinity and one party not being Catholic. Marriages were not forbidden and Lent but at those times the celebration would have to be extremely simple in keeping with the penitential season and so most individuals opted not to marry during those seasons. The were certain days in the liturgical calendar such as Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday Easter Sunday and the like when the only ceremonies allowed were those of the Liturgy of those particular days which in effect eliminated weddings. However there was no dispensation which would allow a wedding to take place on those days since dispensations were granted for impediments and the liturgical calendar was not an impediment but a matter of liturgical observance. As far as the requirement to marry in the Parish of the Bride that was a requirement which was designed to level the playing field for both popular and unpopular priests. Again no dispensation was needed but what was usually granted was the delegation on the part of the pastor of the Bride to another priest to witness a marriage. This was a question of professional courtesy on the part of the pastor of the bride’s Parish. The dispensation from consanguinity was only granted within certain degrees of a blood relationship. For example there was no dispensation which would allow a man to marry his sister. That blood relationship was just way too close. Similar to the impediment of consanguinity is affinity. Consanguinity is just what the word suggests it’s a relationship by common blood ties. Affinity is a relationship which originates in law. An example of affinity is the relationship that exists between a man and his brother’s wife AKA his sister-in-law. That relationship admitted of various degrees and dispensations from Affinity could be granted and often were. The most famous example of affinity was the marriage of Henry the 8th of England and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Catherine had been married to Henry’s older brother Arthur and became a widow as a teenager. Henry and Catherine were granted a dispensation which allowed them to marry for state reasons. This was all well and good for Henry for some 18 years until Catherine was past childbearing age and had not produced a male heir. Then Henry had “qualms of conscience” and thought that it was wrong that he had married his former sister-in-law. He wanted to have the marriage anulled on grounds of affinity however the dispensation he had received was legitimate and the annulment did not take place and the rest is history of his next five wives.

A dispensation was required when one party was Catholic and the other not. This situation is broken down into two separate kinds of dispensations. The first is is from mixed religion when one party is a baptized Catholic and the other person is also baptized but but not in the Catholic faith, For example a baptized Lutheran. The second situation is when one party is a baptized Catholic and the other is a non-Christian unbaptized person and is a dispensation from disparity of cult. Both are granted by the bishop of the diocese. Records of such dispensations are housed in the archives of the diocese where the dispensation was granted. Usually there’s no easy access to those records since the records in the archives of a bishop are not usually in the public forum. There is one notable exception and that is the diocese of Włocławek–Kalisz, which existed during the Partitions. FamilySearch has microfilmed the correspondence of the bishops of that diocese from the late 19th and into the early 20th centuries and examples of dispensations can be found on that particular microfilm. They were not indexed and would be difficult to locate unless you can read the language which would be Latin and are willing to browse through a gazillion images. The film description is erroneous in that it says that the film contains lists of parishioners of the diocese. It does not. The only names of individuals are lists of the priests of the diocese who are assigned in groups for spiritual retreats. But all that is a whole different ball game. I did skim through the images once because a very large number of my ancestors lived in that diocese. I came across numerous dispensations from consanguinity and affinity but obviously did not copy any since they did not involve my ancestors or relatives.

The most common dispensation granted was from the announcement of the banns. The pastor of the parish was authorized to grant a dispensation from one publication of the banns but for a dispensation from more than one publication it was necessary to contact the Chancery which granted the dispensation. Dispensation from one Proclamation would appear short paragraph records as “praemissis duabus proclamationibus…” (Two proclamations having been announced beforehand…”) and that would be the only record of the dispensation having been granted. In the columnar format any dispensation granted would be recorded by name in the column with the heading “Dispensationes” (Dispensations).

I hope that this brief explanation clarifies matters for you and answers your questions.

Dave

yapper

Joined: 25 Nov 2021
Replies: 52

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Posted: Sun May 26, 2024 8:16 am Post subject: Marriage dispensations

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge - it is quite helpful not only for my Prussian ancestor who immigrated to America (which makes me wonder if perhaps German Lutheran who married a French Catholic??) but his descendant a couple of generations later that I know were 2nd cousins (blood related).
I appreciate your time, Laurie

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