Hesse, Christian

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considers the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century reputation of Cardinal Cisnerosthrough a consideration of two plays about him.JONATHANWOOLFSONLORENZO DE’MEDICI,FIRENZEEhen vor Gericht. Paare der Renaissance vor dem Papst. By Ludwig Schmugge. Pp. 291 incl.3 tables, 15 graphs and 17 ills. Berlin : Berlin University Press, 2008. E44.90.978 3 940432 23 0JEH (60) 2009; doi :10.1017/S0022046909990789An unmarried couple from Augsburg had already met several times and had slepttogether. When they had another rendezvous, friends and relatives of the girlentered the room with weapons and threatened her lover in order to force him intomarrying the girl. He had no option but to swear, under oath, to do so. When he wasa free man again and had consulted a legally trained friend, he turned to the papalPenitentiary and requested to be released from the coerced oath. He argued that themarriage should be annulled because violence and force were involved. His petitionwas approved as were the majority of such requests. This case is only one of about6,300 mercy petitions originating in the Holy Roman Empire, which LudwigSchmugge documented for the period 1455–92 during his research work on theindex volumes of the Penitentiary, and which he has analysed for the present study.His book is divided into two parts : the ﬁrst introduces the institution and thefunctioning of the papal Penitentiary as well as the basic principles of the canon lawof marriage. The second discusses, with the help of numerous examples, diﬀerentreasons for annulments. At the same time, Schmugge focuses upon diocesan juris-diction for which the sources are generally rather poor. In doing so, the behaviour ofthe secular jurisdiction is analysed as well. Thus, Schmugge succeeds in linking thedepictions of the normative basic principles with their practical use. Through theclear and always reﬂective illustrations of the cases, one is given an excellent insightinto the social behaviour of late medieval people, into their feelings and theireconomic and private hardships as well as simultaneously into their daily livesi.e. their marriages and sexual behaviour. Even though, in general – for suchpetitions were not free – one is concerned with members of economically more well-oﬀ population groups, one is again and again surprised by the legal knowledge of thepeople involved. These people certainly knew how to reach their goals or where toﬁnd the necessary information. This study therefore invites further consideration of,for example, the spread of legal knowledge among the population. Although detailsmay be criticised (for example a missing index), this book by a proven expert is afundamental, very well written and continuing study of the marital jurisdiction ofclerical as well as secular courts. It thereby addresses academics but also interestedlaypeople. Moreover, the book invites further exploration of the papal index series,which – as here – complements the local material in outstanding fashion.CHRISTIAN HESSEUNIVERSITY OF BERNREV IEWS 815terms of use, available at https:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022046909990789Downloaded from https:/www.cambridge.org/core. University of Basel Library, on 11 Jul 2017 at 08:05:12, subject to the Cambridge Core

Book Review: Ehen vor Gericht. Paare der Renaissance vor dem Papst: Ehen vor Gericht. Paare der Renaissance vor dem Papst. By SchmuggeLudwig. Pp. 291 incl. 3 tables, 15 graphs and 17 ills. Berlin: Berlin University Press, 2008. €44.90. 978 3 940432 23 0

Book Review: Ehen vor Gericht. Paare der Renaissance vor dem Papst: Ehen vor Gericht. Paare der Renaissance vor dem Papst. By SchmuggeLudwig. Pp. 291 incl. 3 tables, 15 graphs and 17 ills. Berlin: Berlin University Press, 2008. €44.90. 978 3 940432 23 0

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