“Married the Sister of His Late Wife”

The Negotiation of Kin-Marriages in Renaissance Hungary

Abstract

The study examines the social practices and cultural attitudes concerning kin-marriages of both the aristocracy and the common man. The analysis of lay petitions handed in to the papal curia asking the dispensation of kin-marriages highlights the dynamic relationship of social practices and official norms and reveals changing attitudes and practices to marriage, kinship and law from the 15th to the 17th century.