Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 May 2026
‘All legislation needs clarification.’ The decrees on entry into marriage issued by Lateran IV (1215, canon 51) and by the Council of Trent (1545–1563, decree Tametsi) instantiate this dictum. The 1215 council failed to prevent clandestine marriages, and the more carefully framed decree Tametsi encountered unforeseen social complexities, which the Congregation of the Council was required to resolve.
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