The C-of-E doesn't what?

[tahnan]

According to Wikipedia:

Powerful figures in the British government deemed the King's [i.e., Edward VIII's] marriage to Mrs [Wallis Warfield] Simpson unacceptable, largely because he had become the Supreme Governor of the Church of England which prohibited remarriage after divorce.

So perhaps someone can explain to me: wasn't the Church of England founded on allowing remarriage after divorce?

Comments

[touchstone.livejournal.com]

Well, after hunting for references for a while, these two seem to summarize most of what I found elsewhere:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/ritesrituals/divorce_1.shtml
http://www.wfn.org/2000/02/msg00003.html

In brief - at some point after Henry VIII (who split the CoE from the Catholic Church in order to divorce and remarry), and apparently around the 17th century, the CoE doctrine shifted to permit divorce, but NOT to allow remarriage while the ex-spouse still lived. In 2002, the doctrine softened somewhat, allowing remarriage even while the ex-spouse survived 'under certain extraordinary circumstances'. However, the marriage of Prince Charles and Camilla Bowles was NOT considered 'extraordinary' enough for such an exception...or at least, not in the right way, perhaps because their relationship had predated (and possibly caused) her divorce.

[khyri.livejournal.com]

Yes, yes, it's all true. And confusing. And why I never got above 30% in any history exam in school.

Apparently remarriage after divorce is just fine and dandy as long as you're not royalty.

[bibliogirl.livejournal.com]

Except that you may not be able to remarry in church (well, not in a CoE church, anyhow) after a divorce. I believe some vicars will do it, some not -- but most will provide a blessing service after a civil wedding.

[lauradi7.livejournal.com]

It does seem to be at the discretion of the clergy person. I know of two different couples who had a C of E wedding for the bride's *third* marriage and in both cases, their two previous weddings had also been in churches.

[luckylefty.livejournal.com]

Actually, the statement that the C of E was founded on allowing divorce, or allowing remarriage after divorce, is at best an oversimplification, and is really more wrong than right. Henry VIII was never actually divorced. His marriages to Catherine of Aragorn and Anne of Cleaves were both annulled. The issue was much more one of who was the church leader (and therefore got to make decisions on the validity of annulments, the Pope or Henry) than it was the legality of divorce. In particular, Henry wanted his marriage to Catherine annulled on the basis of the fact that she was previously married, despite the fact that it had been authorized by a Papal Bull stating that the previous marriage was not valid and had never been consumated. Henry wanted to declare this Bull invalid; the pope didn't.

Wikipedia has a reasonably accurate account of this, some of it on Henry's pages, and some on the pages of his wives.

[dtm]

Note that the standard in the CoE franchise here in America (that is, the ECUSA, not some of the other Anglican splinter groups emerging recently) is that remarriage in the church after divorce requires the bishop to sign off on it, which can require anything from a letter from the couple explaining why this marriage won't also end in divorce, to several long pre-marital counseling sessions with the bishop (occasionally done as group sessions), to finding a church that's across the diocessan line and therefore under a different bishop's jurisdiction.

So it's possible, but frowned upon and sometimes made rather difficult.