Friedelehe

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Friedelehe meaning "lover marriage" is a term for a postulated form of Germanic marriage said to have existed during the Early Middle Ages. The concept was introduced into mediaeval historiography in the 1920s by Herbert Meyer. There is some controversy as to whether such a marriage form, a quasi-marriage, [1] existed but historians who have identified it agree that it was not accepted by the Church. [2]

Contents

Etymology

The term Friedelehe means approximately "lover marriage". The modern German word Friedel is derived from the Old High German friudil, which meant "lover", or "sweetheart"; [3] this is in turn derived from frijōn "to love". The OHG friudil was parallel to the Old Norse fridl, frilla, modern Danish and Norwegian frille "lover".

Friedel is compounded with the word Ehe "marriage", from OHG ēha or ēa "marriage", which in turn harks back to the form ēwa, meaning (approximately) cosmic or divine "law". An OHG form friudilēha is itself apparently not attested, contributing to the controversy about the authenticity of the modern term.

Defining characteristics of Friedelehe according to Meyer

According to Herbert Meyer, the characteristics of Friedelehe were:

Perhaps the best known historic individual to have been born under a Friedelehe was Charlemagne who unified much of Europe in the Middle Ages. Most historians agree that he was born on 2 April 742 while his parents, Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, were bound under a private contract, not considered to be a legal union; the couple did not marry until 744. [4] [5] According to Meyer, Friedelehe was declared illegitimate by the Church in the 9th Century. Nevertheless, vestiges of this form of marriage are said have persisted until modern times reflected in the form of the Morganatic marriage (also called left-hand marriage).

In addition to Friedelehe the aforementioned Muntehe, Kebsehe (concubinage), Raubehe (abduction) and Entführungsehe (elopement) are said to have existed in the Middle Ages. [ citation needed ]

Criticism of Meyer's definition

According to research in the early years of the 21st century (among others that of Else Ebel, Karl Heidecker[ citation needed ] and Andrea Esmyol), indications have accumulated providing evidence to the effect that Friedelehe is a mere research artifact, a construct that arose from a faulty interpretation of the sources by Meyer. The following points of criticism have been raised:

That Meyer's theory was still able to prevail in this field of research for decades may be attributed to the specific context in which it developed. It was, on the one hand, a time in the 19th and early 20th century characterized by a search for historical models for freer choice in the amatory realm. In later years the Nazi regime ensured that Meyer's theory received attention, since it fit very well into the Nazi ideology emphasizing Germanic heritage and promoting a higher birthrate (cf.  Lebensborn).[ citation needed ]

Literature

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References

  1. Karras, Ruth Mazo (2017-01-20). Sexuality in Medieval Europe: Doing Unto Others. Taylor & Francis. ISBN   9781351979900.
  2. Wemple, Suzanne Fonay (2015-12-16). Women in Frankish Society: Marriage and the Cloister, 500 to 900. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN   9781512821338.
  3. Deutsches Wörterbuch of Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm. 16 Vols, 32 Fasicles]. Leipzig: S. Hirzel 1854-1960. -- Edition of 1971. Available online here Archived 2011-05-21 at the Wayback Machine .
  4. Barbero, Alessandro (2004-09-10). Charlemagne: Father of a Continent. University of California Press. ISBN   978-0-520-23943-2.
  5. Magill, Frank Northen; Aves, Alison (1998). Dictionary of World Biography: The Middle Ages. Routledge. ISBN   9781579580414.
  6. Ebel, Else. Der Konkubinat nach altwestnordischen Quellen: Philologische Studien zur sogenannten "Friedelehe." (Concubinage According to Old West Nordic Sources: Philological Studies on the So-Called "Friedelehe."). Ergänzungsbände zum Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde 8, Berlin, Walter de Gruyter, 1993.
  7. Esmyol, Andrea (2002). Geliebte oder Ehefrau? : Konkubinen im frühen Mittelalter (Lover or Wife? Concubines in the early Middle Ages). Köln: Böhlau. ISBN   3-412-11901-6. OCLC   49584572.