Mixed marriages

Abstract

Until the II World War, the population of the Boka Kotorska Bay was a mixture of Orthodox and Catholic confessions: approximately two thirds of the population was Orthodox, while one third belonged to the Catholics. In spite of the religious affiliation, mixed marriages were relatively often between these two groups. Based on a research in archives, this paper deals with such mixed marriages, formed mostly in 18th and 19th century, in the area of Herceg Novi. The second half of 19th century witnessed 639 of marriages, or 12,78 marriages per year, out of which 72 were mixed or 8,87%. In this particular period, 64 Catholic males married Orthodox females, while only 8 Orthodox males married Catholic females. The Church influence on the society was significant, including issues related to marriage, which sometimes created troubles for mixed marriages; however, positive civil and church regulations supported mixed marriages. Marriages between people of a different religious confession thus created wider kinship affiliations, which in turn enhanced religious tolerance, intertwining of different cultures and customs, and acceptance of different political and social views. The tolerance therefore affected political and social turmoil especially in troubled times, which made many issues easier: troubled issues were solved more rationally, and there were not so many persecutions based on someone’s religious affiliation. We need a wider perspective and a broader research on the Boka Kotorska Bay in order to understand how marriages and kinship ties affected a way of life and intertwining of cultural models of the East and West.