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Indissolubility 121
these alleged scandals was already excommunicated when the pope
asked the archbishop to investigate. The annulments for bribes
find their place among a series of accusations that mark this out as
a dramatically untypical case.
For in general the papal registers tell much the same story as the
local church court records studied by the scholars quoted above.
In the thirteenth century at least, annulments are hard to find in
them. The overwhelming majority of cases are about dispensations
to get married or stay married despite an impediment.
Balance sheet
To sum up: Indissolubility was a reality of social life at least from
the pontificate of Innocent III. No doubt there were other places
and perhaps whole regions where easy annulments were possible for
one reason or another. New evidence may be found which dilutes
the strong conclusions of Donahue and others. Nevertheless, those
conclusions look set to stand.
Enforcement
The indissolubility principle was extended: popes and lower ecclesiastical
authorities provided the means for a deserted spouse to
reel in the errant partner. Papal formularies include letters setting
in motion proceedings to bring back a husband or wife who had
nensi, Apostolicae Sedis legato, mandat quatenus, ad Aurasicensem (=Arausicensem)
civitatem accedens, de Aurasicensi episcopo inquirat, qui, . . . quamplures
focarias habens, ut dicebatur; surripiens virginibus castitatis vinculum, pro quibus
et aliis facilitate damnabili seducendis, quamdam miseram, in procurandis alienis
lapsibus forte per proprios eruditam, [auxiliatricem] specialem sibi constituerat,
eique unum de domiciliis Aurasicensis ecclesiae, cujus indigna pane vescebatur,
deputaverat; ad ecclesias et ecclesiastica beneficia conferenda symoniacam advocans
pravitatem; justitiam petentibus non impendens et emissis appellationibus super
illatis ab ipso molestiis minime deferens; interventu pecuniae matrimonia legitima
dirimens et prohibitis obstaculum non opponens; divina ocia, licet excommunicationum
sententiis innodatus, celebrare praesumens,—in multos excessus ceciderat;
quae invenerit Summo Pontifici suis litteris fideliter rescribat’ (Les Registres de
Gr‹egoire IX, ed. L. Auvray, i (Paris, 1896), no. 1709, col. 942.
I read through the marriage cases in the ‹Ecole Franc«aisedeRomecalendarsof
papal registers up to and including Boniface VIII, using the analytical indices for
the registers where they exist. I have not attempted a systematic trawl of fourteenthcentury
registers.
Royal annulments are a special case because of the pressure the parties could
bring to bear. It is nevertheless my prima facie impression that even kings found
it hard or impossible to get an annulment unless their case in law held water. The
question requires further investigation and I hope to deal with it in a separate study.