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made as numerous as possible that the Romish church might extort a revenue by dispensing with them. At this period, a marriage with the sister of a deceased wife stood on the same footing as a marriage with a sixth or seventh cousin. Both were formally prohibited, and both actually took place. The cause of the change is well known. Henry the Eighth had married his brother's wife under a dispensation. He got tired of her, and applied to the Pope for a divorce on the ground of consanguinity, with the view of marrying Anne Boleyn.[1] The Pope refused, or granted it too late; the Reformation commenced, and Henry applied to one of his servile parliaments to release him from his ties. By 25 H. 8, c. 22, s. 3, a marriage with a brother's wife or a wife's sister is expressly declared to be within the prohibited degrees, all marriages between persons more remotely connected being legalized. This statute, however, is commonly regarded as superseded by the 32 Hen. 8, c. 38, which enacts in general terms, without any enumeration of degrees, "that all lawful persons may marry" that "all persons shall be considered lawful that be not prohibited by
- ↑ "It seems, the marriage with his brother's wife
Has crept too near his conscience.
Suffolk. — No, his conscience
Has crept too near another lady."Henry 8th, Act 2.
