De Uxore Proxima futura magistri Hieronymi Cassar : new light on Girolamo Cassar’s immediate family

Abstract

The history of matrimony has a longer medieval period than is conventionally known. This is because it was only as late as 1563, virtually in the concluding sessions of the Council of Trent, that the Catholic Church established new rules regulating nuptials. The history of Catholic marriage can be divided into two main periods, one preceding the Council of Trent, and the other which began with the sitting of the same Council on 11 November 1563 (Sess. XXIV). The laws of marriage were fundamentally changed at the end of this Council with the promulgation of the famous Tametsi decree which sought to exercise tighter control of the church. Amongst other things, as a result of Trent the Catholic Church proclaimed that the validity of a marriage depended on a public ceremony before a priest and two or more witnesses, accompanied by a written entry in a parish register. It also gave full recognition to previously contracted clandestine marriages which were celebrated with the consent of the contracting parties and reaffirmed the validity of those mmTiages which did not have the parents' consent. The proceedings of matrimonial disputes deposited at the Cathedral Archives, Mdina, prior to 1563, contain much detail which highlights the complexity of a situation wherein the Church had not yet acquired full and exclusive jurisdiction over the laws and customs regulating the matrimonial bond. Through these proceedings detailed accounts of litigations and requests for marriage annulments are brought to us directly from both the main protagonists, as well as from the testimony of eyewitnesses. Sometimes these are supplemented by legal documents, such as marriage contracts, which were drawn up by the spouses in front of the notary to ensure that their respective interests were protected. The documents presented for discussion in this paper pertain to the year 1560, and offer novel and intimately personal documentary evidence on the private life of a distinct personality, whose name is synonymous with the foundation and building of Valletta - Girolamo Cassar.