Bendición de las nupcias (DCH) (Nuptial blessing (DCH))

No. 2020-20

The nuptial blessing was a ceremony that took place in the solemn celebration of the marriage. Its prohibition at certain liturgical seasons was adapted in the Spanish American territories due to the idiosyncrasy of the natives. In the same way, the old prohibition to administer it in the second marriages was applied in different ways in Spanish America. This paper focuses also on the patrimonial consequences on women who had remarried and the guardianship of their children, the dispensation of hidden impediments and the prohibition to magistrates and other imperial ministers to marry natural women or who had their domicile within the same province in which they performed their functions.