Anonymous: Table of Affinity & Consanguinity (1270-1300)

(Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, USA)

An illuminated page made by an unknown Italian artist. These two pages are from a copy of the Decretum Gratiani, a collection of Canon law (church law) compiled and written in the 12th century as a legal textbook by the jurist known as Gratian. Shown here are two tables to determine relationships created by marriage. A table of affinity (the left table) shows the relationships that a husband and wife bear to each other's families. Church law prohibited marriage between certain relatives: A man may not marry his: Mother, Daughter, Father's mother, Mother's mother etc. A table of consanguinity (right) shows the degree of kinship between an individual and his or her "blood" relations. According to church law marriages between couples were forbidden if they were within seven (later four) degrees of consanguinity. Both tables were used by church officials to approve or deny marriages although dispensation could be requested (usually with the help of a financial donation). Pages from 1270-1300.