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Mass Communication 69
etc. Probably preachers did not discuss in any depth the theology
of marriage in Paradise. Still, the topos implied that marriage went
with human nature in its pristine perfect state, and was not just a
remedy for concupiscence and lust.
The double cause
Preachers distinguish between the function of marriage before the
sin of Adam and Eve and after it. In the state of innocence, it was
for the sake of children (though they had not got as far as having
any before the first sin was committed), but after the original sin
marriage became a remedy for fornication also. Behind this lies
the idea that the original sin disrupted the balance of human nature
and the control by mind and will over passion and desire. Marriage
acquired the supplementary function of regulating unruly passions.
Put like this, the preacher’s view sounds unromantic. That would
be somewhat misleading. Their married love is not the love of
medieval romances, it is true: it is not an unstoppable emotional
force. Still, married love is a very central theme. Guibert de
Tournai seems to have had a sense for it, writing that ‘“Man will
leave [his father and mother]” by the privilege of love, for that love
by which husband and wife love one another is more vehement than
all carnal loves.’
Christ was present at a marriage feast
The preachers argue that Christ’s presence implies approval.
Servasanto develops the argument thoroughly:
M. M•uller, Die Lehre des hl. Augustinus von der Paradiesesehe und ihre Auswirkung
in der Sexualethik des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts bis Thomas von Aquin: Eine moralgeschichtliche
Untersuchung (Studien zur Geschichte der katholischen Moraltheologie,
1; Regensburg, 1954), 277–9. ‘Yes’ was the outcome of the debate.
D’Avray, Medieval Marriage Sermons: Hugues de Saint-Cher, para. 1; cf.
d’Avray and Tausche, ‘Marriage Sermons in ad status Collections of the Central
Middle Ages’, 104–6.
See d’Avray, Medieval Marriage Sermons, index, s.v. ‘marriage, love and’; also
id., ‘The Gospel of the Marriage Feast of Cana and Marriage Preaching in France’,
in B‹eriou and d’Avray, Modern Questions about Medieval Sermons, 135–53 at 143–4.
D’Avray, Medieval Marriage Sermons: Guibert de Tournai, para. 9; cf. d’Avray
and Tausche, ‘Marriage Sermons in ad status Collections of the Central Middle
Ages’, 128–31.
D’Avray, Medieval Marriage Sermons: Hugues de Saint-Cher, para. 1; Pierre
de Saint-Beno^§t, para. 1; Guibert de Tournai, para 1; Jean Halgrin: Document 1.
9. 1; Konrad Holtnicker: Document 1. 10. 5; Servasanto da Faenza: Document
1. 11. 13.