Divorcios / Divorces (DCH)
 

No. 2025-02

English Abstract: 

The article analyses divorce practices in the context of canon law in Spanish America and the Philippines during the early modern period. Canon law focused on the principle of the indissolubility of a valid and consummated marriage between Christians. However, marriage with non-Christians or “infidels” could be dissolved by a dispensation from the Roman pontiff in favor of religion and faith. Figures such as Alonso de la Vera Cruz played a crucial role in integrating this concept of Christian marriage into the complexities of local traditions.

Given the indissolubility of the marital bond, options included the separation from bed and board or a declaration of nullity. Causes for perpetual or temporary divorce – i.e., separation without the possibility of remarriage – included adultery, heresy or apostasy, danger to the soul, and danger to the body. The interaction between legal norms, judicial practice, and everyday life reveals how different social contexts adapted to or resisted the application of canon law in specific marital situations.