|
Eleanor decided to use church law to claim that her marriage was invalid. In theory, the church banned marriages where a couple shared an ancestor within the previous seven generations as Eleanor and Louis did, but this was a law that the powerful could always get permission to ignore. According to the chronicler John of Salisbury, "When the King made haste to tear her away, she mentioned their kinship, saying it was not lawful for them to remain together as man and wife since they were related by the fourth and fifth degree." The reality was that church law was used by powerful men to get rid of wives who were no longer politically convenient. And it seemed that Eleanor didn't see why she shouldn't use it too. |
