''Sponsalia de futuro'' (or ''sponsalia pro futuro'', also stipulatio sponsalitia) was a Canon form of
engagement used by medieval rulers in cases when one or both future spouses were minors. It was seen as a precursor to valid marriage. In order to celebrate a ''sponsalia de futuro'', both children had to be older than seven.
It was
Peter Lombard
Peter Lombard (also Peter the Lombard, Pierre Lombard or Petrus Lombardus; 1096, Novara – 21/22 July 1160, Paris), was a scholastic theologian, Bishop of Paris, and author of '' Four Books of Sentences'' which became the standard textbook of ...
who introduced the distinction between a ''sponsalia de praesenti'' and a ''sponsalia de futuro''. While the former, a promise of an immediately effective marriage, created a marriage that could not be dissolved, the latter concerned only a future marriage and as such was seen as a betrothal dissoluble
[Lind, 105.] by the mutual consent of the involved parties. It was presumed that the
consummation of marriage included the ''sponsalia de praesenti'' and thus rendered the ''sponsalia de futuro'' a valid marriage.
[Lind, 109.]
See also
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Proxy marriage
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
{{Refend
Marriage in the Catholic Church
Pre-wedding
Child marriage