marriage question

[molly]

Can a widower marry his dead wife's sister? I am particularly talking about the rights and wrongs of late Victorian times. This is relevant to my family tree.

[archbishop]

Henry VIII married his dead brothers wife.

[Buffy]

Yes he did, but he also came to believe that it was a religious sin, for which his "punishment" was that he was cursed to have only daughters or stillborn sons. I watched the same TV programme you did!!!

[Ember]

Definitely, an friend of mine did. How can it possibly be wrong, the Victorians were a funny lot weren't they?

[archbishop]

Buffy - which TV programme? I was sure he had a son called Edward who ascended the throne, but there again I may wrong (not).

[Buffy]

Hi Archbishop, it was called "The Six Wives of Henry VIII". It was a multi-part documentary, produced in Britain... mainly historical / biographical, but it also included scandalous details / trivia about Henry's and each wife's sex lives. Anyway, you are quite right about Henry eventually producing a son, it was only earlier in his life that he believed he had sinned and was cursed... before his marriage to Jane Seymour.

[molly]

I was actually wondering if there was a good reason why my ancester appeared to have "lived in sin" with his wife's sister from the 1880's onward, and why they didn't marry. They had two children between them. Perhaps I should have added they were Church of Scotland, though I don't know if that would make a difference.

[archbishop]

Anything Scottish is dodgy. Serious religion problems up there and the food ugh.Even geezers walking around in skirts at least mine covers my not unattractrive legs.

[incitatus]

in the days before civil weddings were common church law determined who could marry. and in church law it is incest to marry your dead wifes sister. so he could not marry her in church. Henry 8 got round this by papal dispensation

[Nelli]

My boss did!