Sex Law and Marriage in the Decretals
The decretals of the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, as we have seen, significantly altered the Church’s law on marriage and made important adjustments in the law concerning other types of sexual relationships. AlexanÂder III played a critical role in this process, for the most basic and sweeping changes occurred during his pontificate. Alexander gave Western marriage law a form that was to endure for the greater part of four centuries. His rules reÂmained in effect, by and large, until the Council of Trent—and even then were abandoned only with reluctance.[1355]