by Lauren Moye, BPC Managing Editor
The history of marriage and divorce theology was explored in a recent publication by Brewton-Parker College’s Dr. Amanda Wrenn Allen, Assistant Professor of History. Allen’s “How to Marry a King: Bucer’s and Milton’s Marriage Theology and Early Modern English Kings” was published in The Anglican and Episcopal History and shows how the work of two men relate to the political times of their respective centuries.
Allen’s paper starts by examining Martin Bucer’s marriage and divorce theology, a segment from his 1550 On the Doctrine of Christ. Bucer published his work three years after Henry the VIII, known for his many marriages and his controversial divorces, died. John Milton later translated and republished Bucer’s marriage and divorce theology in 1644 while updating it to reflect his own political context of the English Civil conflict and Charles I’s marriage to the French-Catholic princess Henrietta Maria.
Allen explained her inspiration for the article as starting as a doctoral student when she discovered Milton and Bucer’s divorce theology. Allen said, “I was intrigued immediately that two people separated by nearly one hundred years might have commonalities in proposing a topic which was not often discussed or permitted. I wanted to question this deeper and answer why Milton chose to translate this specific theological work and what perhaps both men were aiming to achieve political and/or socially in such writings.”
Allen’s article starts a new conversation on the topic of Bucer, Milton, and Marriage/Divorce Theology. She hopes her article will show the interplay between the men, religion, politics, and social norms. Allen explained, “No work has been done comparing Bucer and Milton or analyzing their divorce theologies in relation to the larger politico-social contexts. Some work has been done on Milton’s divorce theology but without connecting it to the Civil Wars and how Charles’s marriage to Henrietta Maria was a major point of contention for the Parliamentarians.”
She added, “I think this is a very modern topic even though it is centuries in the past. Divorce is still considered a touchy topic for many as it was then.”
Allen’s hopes go beyond launching a new academic discussion, however. Like many Brewton-Parker professors, she finds value in being active in her field. She said, “By connecting with others in my field, it makes me a stronger academic and thus professor. By being active in this field, we are offering our students the same high scholarship they could find at larger institutions.”
Those interested in reading “How to Marry a King” will have to find it through an academic journal provider or read the copy that the Fountain-New Library has in its possession.
