Milton's divorce tracts
Encyclopedia
Milton's divorce tracts refer to the four interlinked polemical pamphlets--The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce, The Judgment of Martin Bucer, Tetrachordon, and Colasterion--written by John Milton
from 1643-45 arguing for the legitimacy for divorce
on grounds of spousal incompatibility. Arguing for divorce at all, let alone a version of no-fault divorce, was extremely controversial at this time, leading Milton to be publicly attacked by religious figures who sought to ban his tracts. Though Milton's tracts were met with nothing but hostility, and he later rued publishing them in English at all, they are important for analyzing the relationship between Adam and Eve
in his epic Paradise Lost
.
The broader context for Milton's penning the tracts was his hope, given the intellectual ferment accompanying the English Civil War
, that Parliament might reform the outmoded—really, nonexistent—English divorce laws. Having inherited Catholic canon law
, England, unusually for a Protestant country, had no formal mechanisms for divorce: as in Catholicism, marriages could be annulled on the basis of preexisting impediments, like consanguinity
or impotence, or separations could be obtained. However, divorce may have been unofficially condoned in cases of desertion or adultery. On the whole, in the words of one historian, England remained "the worst of all worlds, largely lacking either formal controls over marriage or satisfactory legal means of breaking it."
, he defines as "the apt and cheerful conversation of man with woman, to comfort and refresh him against the evils of solitary life." Milton argues that if a couple be "mistak’n in their dispositions through any error, concealment, or misadventure" for them "spight of antipathy to fadge together, and combine as they may to their unspeakable wearisomnes and despaire of all sociable delight" violates the purpose of marriage as mutual companionship.
24:1 because in Matthew 19 he was just addressing a specific audience of Pharisees
.
. By finding support for his views among Protestant writers, Milton hoped to sway the members of Parliament and Protestant ministers who had condemned him.
, in the interim. The name in Greek means "four-stringed," implying that Milton was able to harmonize the four Scriptural passages (Genesis 1:27-28, Deuteronomy 24:1, Matthew 5:31-32 and 19:2-9, and I Corinthians 7:10-16) dealing with divorce
. In this learned and dense Biblical exegesis, Milton suggests that in the post-lapsarian world the secondary law of nature permits divorce.
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
from 1643-45 arguing for the legitimacy for divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
on grounds of spousal incompatibility. Arguing for divorce at all, let alone a version of no-fault divorce, was extremely controversial at this time, leading Milton to be publicly attacked by religious figures who sought to ban his tracts. Though Milton's tracts were met with nothing but hostility, and he later rued publishing them in English at all, they are important for analyzing the relationship between Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...
in his epic Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse...
.
Context
The immediate spark for Milton's writing of the tracts was his desertion by his newly married wife, Mary Powell. In addition to the testimony of early biographers, critics have detected Milton's personal psychosexual situation in passages of The Doctrine and Discipline and Divorce.The broader context for Milton's penning the tracts was his hope, given the intellectual ferment accompanying the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, that Parliament might reform the outmoded—really, nonexistent—English divorce laws. Having inherited Catholic canon law
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
, England, unusually for a Protestant country, had no formal mechanisms for divorce: as in Catholicism, marriages could be annulled on the basis of preexisting impediments, like consanguinity
Consanguinity
Consanguinity refers to the property of being from the same kinship as another person. In that respect, consanguinity is the quality of being descended from the same ancestor as another person...
or impotence, or separations could be obtained. However, divorce may have been unofficially condoned in cases of desertion or adultery. On the whole, in the words of one historian, England remained "the worst of all worlds, largely lacking either formal controls over marriage or satisfactory legal means of breaking it."
Argument
The overarching argument of the four tracts is that private divorce by mutual consent for incompatibility is consonant with Christian Scripture, specifically Matthew 19:3-9, where Christ seems to specifically forbid divorce (see Christian views on divorce). Yet although buttressed by Scriptural authority, much of Milton's argument hangs on his view of human nature and the purpose of marriage, which rather than the traditional ends of procreation or a remedy against fornicationFornication
Fornication typically refers to consensual sexual intercourse between two people not married to each other. For many people, the term carries a moral or religious association, but the significance of sexual acts to which the term is applied varies between religions, societies and cultures. The...
, he defines as "the apt and cheerful conversation of man with woman, to comfort and refresh him against the evils of solitary life." Milton argues that if a couple be "mistak’n in their dispositions through any error, concealment, or misadventure" for them "spight of antipathy to fadge together, and combine as they may to their unspeakable wearisomnes and despaire of all sociable delight" violates the purpose of marriage as mutual companionship.
Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce
The fuller title of the first pamphlet is The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce: Restor'd to the Good of Both Sexes, From the Bondage of Canon Law. Its first edition was printed in August 1643, and then a much expanded, unlicensed second edition came out in 1644. Though Milton's full name appeared on neither title page, his name must have become affixed to the tracts for he was denounced in a sermon given before Parliament in August 1644. Milton's basic scriptural argument is that Christ did not abrogate the Mosaic permission for divorce found in DeuteronomyDeuteronomy
The Book of Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, and of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch...
24:1 because in Matthew 19 he was just addressing a specific audience of Pharisees
Pharisees
The Pharisees were at various times a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews during the Second Temple period beginning under the Hasmonean dynasty in the wake of...
.
Judgment of Martin Bucer
Published in July 1644, Judgment of Martin Bucer consists mostly of Milton's translations of pro-divorce arguments from the De Regno Christi of the Protestant reformer Martin BucerMartin Bucer
Martin Bucer was a Protestant reformer based in Strasbourg who influenced Lutheran, Calvinist, and Anglican doctrines and practices. Bucer was originally a member of the Dominican Order, but after meeting and being influenced by Martin Luther in 1518 he arranged for his monastic vows to be annulled...
. By finding support for his views among Protestant writers, Milton hoped to sway the members of Parliament and Protestant ministers who had condemned him.
Tetrachordon
Tetrachordon appeared in March 1645, after Milton had published his defense of free speech, AreopagiticaAreopagitica
Areopagitica: A speech of Mr. John Milton for the liberty of unlicensed printing to the Parliament of England is a 1644 prose polemical tract by English author John Milton against censorship...
, in the interim. The name in Greek means "four-stringed," implying that Milton was able to harmonize the four Scriptural passages (Genesis 1:27-28, Deuteronomy 24:1, Matthew 5:31-32 and 19:2-9, and I Corinthians 7:10-16) dealing with divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
. In this learned and dense Biblical exegesis, Milton suggests that in the post-lapsarian world the secondary law of nature permits divorce.