GENDER VIOLENCE IN MARRIAGE AND DECREE LAW IN THE 12TH – 13TH CENTURIES

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of gender violence in medieval legal collections and consideration of the mechanisms of protection against it in church law of the 12th – 13th centuries. It has been established that marriage was the basis of medieval social organization and was based on the tradition established by the norms of Roman law and the prescriptions of the Old Testament. It was noted that 1) in many matters of married life, a woman remained subordinate to her husband, despite the fact that men and women were absolutely equal in the performance of marital duty; 2) prejudiced attitude towards women and patriarchal legal norms caused a significant limitation of womenʼs rights in court. It is emphasized that secular and canonical law contradicted each other in a number of family and marital problems, for example, in recognizing it as a crime to leave a woman, sending a woman away through no fault of hers. It is noted that the jurisdictional competence of the Church in marriage matters gradually expanded. It was established that church tribunals exercised jurisdiction, including criminal jurisdiction, over marital sexual conduct, as well as all types of extramarital sexual conduct. Fornication, adultery, bigamy, rape, incest, prostitution and sodomy were subject to ecclesiastical punishments and belonged to the competence of ecclesiastical courts. It can be considered proven that a woman (wife) had equal rights and responsibilities with her husband in sexual relations in a medieval marriage (fulfilment of "marital duty"). It is concluded that the protection of women from violence in marital and extramarital relations in Western Europe in the 12th – 13th centuries is connected with the spread of canon law.