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'The formation and dissolution of marriage in early medieval Ireland was shaped with the aim of maximising reproduction.' Is this a fair assessment? This is a fair assessment, as the reality of medieval Irish society, as represented through the Vernacular legal tracts; strongly indicate that the formation and dissolution of marriage was shaped with the aim of maximising reproduction. Legal tracts from early medieval Ireland provide both the ideal and the reality of marriage during the period. The Collectio Canonum Hibernensis, a collection of Canon Laws, gives the ideal of marriage as seen by the Christian Church, while vernacular laws, namely Cáin Lánamna, the Heptads, and Díre tracts, express the realities of the formation and dissolution of marriage in early Irish society. Tatsuki comments on these opposing legal texts saying that "the Hibernensis was the basic guide to church administration as well as being a source of moral direction to churchmen and laymen alike. The Irish laws, on the other hand, presuppose a wider application to all of lay society, with few moral overtones." Marriage as described in vernacular law was clearly shaped with the aim of maximising reproduction with the acceptance of polygamy, separation and divorce. However, for the most part, the opposite can be said of Canon Law, under which many of the actualities of marriage in early medieval Irish society were prohibited. In this essay I will examine the treatment of the formation and dissolution of marriage in both the Hibernensis, which portrays the ideal and vernacular laws, which portray the reality of marriage within society. "Canonical rules about sexual conduct…aimed to encourage everyone who could do so to renounce the pursuit of sexual pleasure, and to embrace, instead, a life of perpetual virginity, unblemished by any sexual experience whatever" Brundage's assessment of Canon Law strongly argues that reproduction was not central to Christian ideals. Two books within Collectio Canonum Hibernensis deal directly with marriage and sexuality, Liber XLV - De quaestionibus mulierum and Liber XLVI - De ratione matrimonii. Liber XLV opens with the phrase "that virginity is to be praised in either sex" as virginity is the highest state of spirituality available to mankind, while marriage and therefore are clearly not affiliated with the ideal state. Liber XLVI deals specifically with marriage. Under Canon Law marriage is believed to be monogamous, permanent and mutually consensual. Liber XLVI prohibits adultery, polygamy, the existence of concubines, and consanguinity. In this respect, the Hibernensis is certainly not a document that is promoting a society with the aim of maximising reproduction. While Canon Law emphasised that marriage was a life long contract and that divorce was not accepted, annulments were granted on rare occasions and on limited grounds.
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