Subjects: Separation from bed and board

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Although there was no procedure whereby a marriage could be ended by divorce, as we know it today, there were some circumstances, most frequently infidelity or cruelty, in which a formal separation could be awarded by the church courts, but the couple were not granted the right to remarry. This was often referred to as a ‘divorce a mensa et thoro’.

Sometimes arrangements were made for the payment of alimony to the wife for the rest of her life.

Sources:

R. H. Helmholz, Marriage Litigation in Medieval England, (London, 1974), pp. 100-107

Ralph Houlbrooke, Church Courts and the People during the English Reformation , (Oxford, 1979), pp. 67-75

Adultery by the husband

EDC 5/1/2 – Elizabeth Levar contra Adam Levar

Adultery by the wife

EDC 5/1580/2 – Thomas Darcie, gentleman, contra Cecily Darcie
EDC 5/1580/3 – Thomas Darcie, gentleman, contra Cecily Darcie

Adultery and cruelty by the husband

EDC 5/1/5 – Anne Orell contra Piers Orrell
EDC 5/1580/1 – Elizabeth Cowley alias Johnson, wife of Richard Cowley alias Johnson, contra Richard Cowley alias Johnson

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