Beze, Theodore de (1519-1605) Tractatio de Repudiis et Divortiis.
Geneva: Apud Eustathium Vignon, 1573.
Octavo, printer's device to title page, with index, bound in modern half calf with marbled paper boards, 6 x 3 1/2 in.
Working on Jean Calvin's reforms of church law regarding sex, marriage, and family life, Beze [aka Beza] completed and systematized the theological doctrine in this work, first published in 1569. Although the Genevan reforms were a departure from standing Catholic doctrine, they continued to view men and women differently in marriage. Beza specifically states that an abandoned male spouse may remarry in less than a year, whereas a woman, even if she has married again, must return to her abandoner should he re-appear in less than a year. The long list of subjects in the index includes: adultery, concubines, children, desertion, fornication, frigidity, incest, infidelity, and many more.
