ABSTRACT

Spanish early modern courts shared a common rhetoric when it came to marital affection and passion. Litigants praised Christian friendship, charity and love while condemning the sins of lust, wrath and jealousy. Marriages were to serve as the bedrock of an ordered society. Spouses troubled by passions, however, could create only scandal and violence.

It is crucial that we understand how early modern peoples used emotions to order society and the law so we can better understand how the law was applied. Many institutions that claim to be ruled by cold rationality, of course, are actually ruled by emotions.