Clerical Marriage and Concubinage

The decretals of this period dealt more often with clerical marriage and con­cubinage than they did with sex offenses among the laity, but here, too, there was little innovation.

Although Gerald of Wales reported that Alexander III personally opposed mandatory clerical celibacy and considered changing the law, no hint of that inclination appears in the pope’s decretals. It is likely that Gerald’s report was based on wishful thinking, not hard evidence.^[1331] On the contrary, Alexander III publicly deplored the frequency with which the ban on clerical concubinage and marriage was violated and urged bishops to strip clerical sex offenders of their offices and positions.^[1332] It is also clear from Innocent Ill’s decretals, as well as from other sources, that the popes were fighting an uphill battle in the at­tempt to enforce clerical celibacy.⁸⁸

Decretals in this period reiterated earlier bans on clerical marriage and

Second Marriages

called on clerics in major orders to separate from their wives.^[1333] Alexander III ruled that the marriages of clerics in major orders were nothing more than simple cohabitation (contubernium), equivalent to the temporary unions of Ro­man slaves.^[1334] He also demanded that concubinary clerics renounce their mis­tresses, and repeated the pleas of earlier pontiffs that the faithful abstain from attending Masses celebrated by priests who kept concubines.^[1335] None of this was new. The decretals of the late twelfth century on clerical sexuality did little more than reaffirm positions that had become standard teaching since the Gre­gorian reform. As was true of sex crimes, however, the enforcement process lagged far behind the lawmaking process. Implementation of the celibacy rules remained patchy and erratic.