Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 4.djvu/313

 CONSANGUINITY

2fi7

CONSANGUINITY

Copps hail novor gnuitrd ;i dispensation for a nmrriaso oiwpen brotlier and sister, even wlii'i'o tlie union might have occurred without a knowledge of the re- lationship on the part of the contracting persons.

Consanguinity may be duplicated as arising from two sources: first, from two roots, e. g. two brotliers marrying two women who are cousins; the cliildren of each brotlier will be related to those of the othi^r in the second degree on the father's sitle, and in the third tle- gree on the mother's side; second, from one root, but when the descendants intermarry. Hence, where there is a double consanguinity, there is a double im- pediment which must be expressed in the petition for dispensation; and should there be a more extensive

is also rr(|uired if an attcTiipt at marriage had been made, even if not consummated.

C'lvii, Lpx;islation. — In the Eastern Ch\irch the Quinisext Council (692) forbade, as we have seen, mar- riages between first cousins. In the eighth century Emperors Leo and Constantine confirmed this decree and forbade alliances between persons in the sixth degree of consanguinity according to the computation of the Roman civil law, i. e. between the grandchildren of brothers and sisters, and still later in the seventh degree of the same computation. This holds to-day in the Greek Church. The question of consanguinity is important in determining civil rights, which are mainly under control of the State, though illegitimacy

T.\BLE OF CONS.\NGUINITY

Their great - gramlchildrei

Their Kreal- grantichildrer

-Great-great-^— Great-great Great-great Theii

uncle grandfather uncle chiUlrf

Great-great- Great-great Great-great- aiint grandmother aunt

- (ireat-uncle Great -gram! Great-uncle Tlieir

(_!reat-aunt father (Ireat-aunt chililn

Great-grand-

leir grand- —Their great- chddren grandchildren

^Their great- grandchildren

Great -grand Grand-nephew — Nepht

nephew Grand-niece Nien

Great -gram 1-

-ftister Nep'h

,Iohn Mary

Orandilaughter

3 4

w — f .rand-nephew— Great-grand- Grand-niece nephew

CJreat-grand- uiece

iduijlication by still further intermarriages, all the for- biilden degrees resulting from the blood-relationship ehould he mentioned in seeking dispensation. In the petition for dispensation, both series in the collateral consanguinity must be mentioned, though this is not necessary for validity of the dispensation. A sjjecial proviso Is made when dispensation is sought from col- lateral consanguinity. It must be mentioned, even for validity, if the one part, is ne.xt of kin to the root or conmion ancestor and the other witliin the forbidden degrees; the sex of the next of kin should also be men- tioned, because of the greater difficulty of the dispen- sation for a nephew to marry his aunt. If the farthest should lie in the fifth degree, there is even in that case no |)rohihition of marriage. The impediment of mar- riage arises also from any carnal intercourse, even out- side of marriage, to the fourth degree of consanguinity. To consanguinity within the prohibited degrees may be added the gravamen of the crime of incest. If the incest were committed in the hope of facilitating the grant of a dispensation, this circumstance must be mentioned in the petition for dispensation; mention

often produces ecclesiastical disbarments (see Birth). The hindrances to marriage basedon consanguinity vary considerably in different States. In Germany consan- guinity is a, bar only in the direct line, and between brothers and sisters. In France uncle and niece, aunt and nephew, are forbidden to intermarry, but dispen- sation may be granted by the head of the State. The lirohil:)ition does not extend to this relationship aris- ing from an illegitimate union. Even in the most conservative Catholic countries, there is a tendency to limit th(' impediment of con.sangtiinity. In England th(' statutes of Henry VIII, repealed in part by Ed- ward VI and wholly Ijy Phillip and Mary, were revived in Klizabeth's first year, the provision being that "no prohibition, Goil's law except, .shall trouble or im- peach any marriage outside Levitical law". The ec- clesiastical interpretation was that consanguinity was an impediment to marriage as far as the third degree of civil computation. A man might not marry his aunt, or his niece, but might marry his first cousin. Relationship by the half-blood was put on the same footing .as the uiU-blood, and illegitimate consanguin-