Divorce History

Introduction to Divorce History

Before 1857 in Britain, freedom to remarry could be obtained only by an act of Parliament following a separation decree given by an ecclesiastical court on the basis of some wrong (such as adultery or abandonment) done by the defendant to the plaintiff. This system, based on the premise that valid marriages may not be dissolved, reflected the Roman Catholic origins of English domestic-relations law.

The early American colonists brought this fault-based system with them to the New World. Because they feared the moral dangers posed by a married yet separated state, they made it possible to obtain an absolute divorce, but only on the traditional English grounds for separation. Basically, however, the conceptual and legal structure of the marriage-dissolution system remained as it had been created and maintained for a divorceless society.

Ecclesiastical courts were abolished in Britain in 1857, and absolute divorce was then instituted. Incorporated into the law of absolute divorce were the fault-based notions that had grown up around separation. These notions continued to affect British and American divorce law and administration for more than a century.” (1)

Resources

Notes and References

• Information about Divorce History in the Encarta Online Encyclopedia

Guide to Divorce History

In this Section

Divorce, Divorce History, Divorce Reform, Divorce in the World and Divorce in the United States.

About Ecclesiastical Courts

Ecclesiastical Courts, Ecclesiastical Courts Origins, Ecclesiastical Courts in the Middle Ages and Ecclesiastical Courts Decline in Power.