History of Women
Here you will find articles, references and snippets of information on how the perception and rights of women have changed through history. In particular the subject of marital rights, property rights and divorce will be looked at with some emphasis on how a woman’s ability to retain control over her financial situation affected her and her children’s quality of life. As a results of the differing levels of education provided to boys and girls and rich and poor, the written history relating to women and family life is at times very sparse. Most of the famous diarists like Pepys were, of course, men and therefore presented life through their perspective although useful information about women’s lives can be gleaned by reading these accounts, especiall Pepys as he often makes reference to his domestic arrangements.The Recent History of Divorce
Last modified on 2010-04-15 20:00:36 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
The recent history of divorce is as follows, however the situation was quite different many hundreds of years ago.
Henry VIII was granted a divorce by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and church courts retained the power to dissolve marriages.
Until 1858 divorce could only be obtained by an Act of Parliament. These were expensive to obtain and only available to men. Ecclesiastical, ie Church, courts could grant legal separations, but neither party could go on to remarry.
1857 The Matrimonial Causes Act allowed ordinary people to divorce. Divorce was now possible by court action in The High Court. Men only had to plead and prove adultery whereas women had to claim both adultery and cruelty. Divorce was costly and therefore only available to the rich.
1923 A Private Members’ Bill Women were now allowed to divorce for adultery on the same terms as men.
1937 Further grounds for divorce were now included including desertion, insanity and drunkenness.
1949 Legal Aid was extended to be available for divorce so poor people could now divorce too.
1969 The Divorce Reform Act was passed, allowing couples to divorce after they had been separated for two years, or five years if one of the parties did not consent to the divorce on these grounds. The parties only had to show that the marriage had irretrievably broken down. It was no longer necessary for the parties to prove “fault”.
Divorce From 1000 AD
Last modified on 2010-04-15 19:59:29 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
1000 AD – At this time there were 2 sets of courts, the ecclesiastical and the lay courts. Both courts could deal with matrimonial cases.
From c1150 AD the church claimed the right to deal with issues relating to marriage. For ecclesiastical purposes England was divided into 2 areas, Canterbury and York. Each area was then sub-divided into dioceses with their own Bishop. The diocesan courts dealt with the majority of matrimonial cases. Due to the church’s view of the sacrament of marriage it was virtually impossible to get a divorce but relatively easy to get an annulment. A divorce could not be obtained without an application to the Pope, who rarely if ever granted a divorce. An annulment could be granted on the grounds of proof of a previous binding contract to marry another or consanguinity or affinity ie the parties were connected by blood or marriage.
To ease the obtaining of an annulment strange rules evolved on what could be relied on as showing consanguity, eg a marriage could be annulled if a husband had stood as godfather to his wife’s cousin or he had had sexual intercourse with a relative of his wife before the marriage.
In 1540 the pre contract ground of nullity was abolished but revived in 1548.
In 1602 it was decided that the ecclesiastical courts could not grant a divorce and from that time on those who wanted a divorce had to petition parliament by a private bill. Ecclesiastical courts could now only grant annulments or a decree of Judicial Separation on the grounds of adultery, cruelty or unnatural offences. Desertion was remedied by a decree of restitution of conjugal rights. Disobeyance of an ecclesiastical decree resulted in the party being excommunicated, however in 1813 excommunication was replaced by six months imprisonment. The ecclesiastical courts could grant an annulment on the grounds of consanguinity or affinity, mental incapacity, impotence, under age or a prior existing marriage.
To read more about how the perception of women and women’s rights vary greatly through history.
