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From: Karen Horn <>
Subject: Re: Shocking News: We Are Cousins!!
Date: 3 Jun 2000 04:38:07 GMT


Edward Hutchison <> wrote:
: Thanks to Richard Pence for reminding me how relevant Alex Shoumatoff's, "The
: Mountain of Names," is to the question of human interrelatedness.
:
: I read this work not long after its publication in 1985 and unhesitatingly
: recommend it to anyone interested in these issues--or, for that matter, to
: anyone with a serious interest in the broader subject of genealogical research.
: It is an excellent book.
:
: One other book that is worth mentioning in the context of this discussion is
: "Forbidden Relatives," by Martin Ottenheimer.
:
: He deals particularly with the controversy surrounding the marriage of first
: cousins. It will surprise some to know that there is no proscription against
: cousin marriages in any European nation, and while a majority of American
: States now have laws against the marriage of first cousins, none of these laws
: existed until 1850.

That may be, for for centuries the Catholic church [and presumably others]
have church laws re: marriage of cousins within a certain degree of
consanquinity. One can get a dispensation, but it's VERY discouraged.
I'd have to check, but I believe it applies to roughly second cousins
or so.


Karen

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