Marriage Patent, 1783

Joseph II’s Marriage Patent – Marital affairs were now a matter for State courts

1783

The Marriage Patent of 1783 made a clear distinction between the Church sacrament of marriage and the State marriage contract. Jurisdiction in marital affairs was transferred from the diocesan courts to the secular courts. The law was still strongly influenced by religious ideas and it did not yet create a civil marriage.

Marriage Patent, 1783