Spiritual Marriage

This study explores the early Christian and medieval practice of spiritual marriage, in which husband and wife mutually and voluntarily relinquished sexual activity for reasons of piety. It describes how this practice was manipulated by the clergy and medieval royalty.

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The early Christian and medieval practice of spiritual marriage, in which husband and wife mutually and voluntarily relinquish sexual activity for reasons of piety, plays an important role in the development of the institution of marriage and in the understanding of female religiosity. Drawing on hagiography, chronicles, theology, canon law, and pastoral sources, Dyan Elliott traces the history of spiritual marriage in the West from apostolic times to the beginning of the sixteenth century.