Consent and Coercion: Forced Marriages in Supplications to the Apostolic Penitentiary, 1484–92

In the late Middle Ages, hundreds of Christians from all over Europe sent supplications to the Papal Curia to be freed from promises made under duress. This article analyses the supplications about forced marriages that were submitted to the Apostolic Penitentiary during the pontificate of Pope Innocent VIII (1484–92). The study is based on mainly unedited source material that has not been investigated before. The article examines who turned to the Penitentiary for annulment because of force (age, gender, and social status), who was designated as the compelling party, and, finally, what kind of coercion the petitioners had been subjected to. Particular focus is given to the narrative strategies of the petitioners and how their stories relate to legal theory and cultural norms in late medieval society.