Some days ago I came across an anti-Christian posting online. This post referenced the marriage of Richard II of England and Isabella of France, and how when that couple was married Richard was 29 years of age and Isabella was only 6/7. Of course, when I saw this post my first thought was of the marriage of Mohamed and Aisha, which is notorious because Mohamed at the age of 53 married the girl at 6/7, and consummated the marriage when she turned 9. This event is often used by Christians (rightfully so) to decry Mohamed as a pedophile, which is one of the many moral failings Christians can use to reject Islam as a religion and the polemics of its adherents. Although not central to our refutation of Islam, Mohamed’s paedophilia and other sexual vices is a powerful rhetorical tool, especially when we look at the contemporary Islamic World, which is plagued with the ramifications of Mohamed’s sexual proclivities and teachings. From the condoned molestation of young boys, female genital mutilation, polygamy, societal support for transgenderism in Shia Islam, and the lowering of the IQ in the Arab race as a result of generations of inbreeding, all these “features” of Islam can be traced back to the original teachings and practices of the religion’s founder. If what the poster stated in regards to Richard II and Isabella is true, it represents a moral equivalency between Christianity and Islam, and ultimately sets an example which discredits any claims we Christians would make against Mohamed. Also, for me, such paedophilic relationships, even if embarked upon for strictly political and nonsexual reasons, still represent a perversion that opposes traditional Christian morality, or at least my understanding of traditional Christian morality.
I sought out to disprove the claims regarding the marriage of Richard II, but soon found out that the facts were against me. To make matters worse, the practice of having child brides was evidently demonstrated to me to be not simply a rare exception but somewhat of a regular occurrence in Medieval Christendom. By “child brides” I am not referring to prolonged betrothal periods arranged in childhood, or arranged marriages of similarly aged people, but relationships of young girls to men many years their senior. I used the Wikipedia article on child brides to find this information. Of course, this Wikipedia article is not exhaustive, and it only focuses on the elite/ruling classes, which as a focus I think is wholly justifiable as it is the elite who set the moral standard and example for society as a whole. This does not necessarily mean that the people will follow the example of the elite, but regardless, through them the standards of normalcy are set. Secondly, what Wikipedia defines as a child bride is somewhat nebulous. For example, in the Tenth Century, Emma of Italy is listed as a child bride, even though she was married at the age of 17 to Lothair of France, who was at the oldest 24 years of age. We see many similar examples in the article, whereby according to the strictest definition of what a “child bride” is, the female party would be considered a child, but the relationship does not elicit the same revolution one would normally associates with this definition. Again, I would probably say such a relationship is not ideal, as I can attest to how drastically one’s character changes and develops between the ages of 15 and 25, and how it’s far better for one to be assured in themselves as a person before engaging in a relationship and marriage, but marriages like these do not strike me with the same revulsion I feel from the examples which will be forthcoming.
We do see many examples of young girls being given into marriage in Christendom. But as mentioned before, many of these can partially be justified when the boy is of similar age. Again, I think this is immoral but a 10 year old (Isabella of France1) marrying a 13 year old (Guigues VIII), or a 7 year old (Joan of the Tower) marrying a 4 year old (David II of Scotland) is not paedophilia. I do not think it is healthy for the development of children for them to be married, but it is clear that said relationships exist for political expediency and not sexual exploitation, and that sexual exploitation is not likely to occur. I know that most, if not all, of these “marriages” are likely political. That being said, the relationships which I categorically oppose are those where one party is significantly older than the other, or rather, where one is sexually developed and the other party is not. I also oppose relationships wherein both parties may be sexually developed but when one party is significantly older than the other (I will go into my particular views later). Unfortunately, both types of relationships appeared to be regular occurrences in the Christian West and although not normative, not seen as something abhorrent either. The Roman Catholic Church from 380 A.D. to 1983 A.D. codified the age of majority (adulthood) to be 21, and the minimum marriageable age to be 12 for girls and 14 for boys. So the Roman Catholic Church (and thus the pre-Schism Church of Rome) defined in its territories that 21 years of age was the preferred and thus standard age by which one should enter into marriage. The younger ages were the minimum possible ages by which two might get married with parental consent, but these are evidently meant to be the rare exception. The standard is 21, the possible minimum is 12 and 14. Yet, we see the Pope in at least one case give a dispensation for a 10 year old girl to marry a 23 year old.2 So effectively, there was no minimum marriageable age in Western Christianity, which is evident when we see marriages of children who are both under 10 years of age. Again, I do not approve of such marriages, but they are not as immoral as the other forms of marriage I have mentioned. However, for Catholics, it shows that Rome was utterly incapable or unwilling to hold to the standards it set. 12 and 14 were meant to be the exception, yet this “canon law” was essentially meaningless when we have at least one example of the pope circumventing it, and many many more examples where underage marriages occurred and the parties faced no ecclesial sanction.
Now thus far I have focused on Western Christianity, as the original posting involved a Western king. In researching this topic, I soon found out that I could neither defend nor deny the claims made against Western Christians. But thankfully for me, as an Orthodox Christian it is not my job to defend Medieval Catholicism. When looking at Orthodox nations and Russia in particular, prior to 1830 we see 13 and 15 being the youngest marriageable ages for females and males respectively. 15 was however preferred for females, and teenage marriages were meant to be practised in chastity. In 1830, the marriageable age was raised to 16 for females and 18 for males. When looking for specific examples of child marriages in Orthodox nations in the Wikipedia article, we have a number of examples from Russia. However, most of these examples involve girls who are 16 or 17, and we do not see a huge gap in the age between the couple. The youngest instance we have is Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna (aged 14) marrying Frederick Louis, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (aged 21). Again, 14 is young and I do not approve, but it is not immoral to the same degree as to what we have seen prior in the west. In Greece we have the Princess Sophie (aged 16), sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who married her second cousin once removed Prince Christoph of Hesse (aged 29). In Roumania we have the Crown Prince Ferdinand (aged 27) married to Princess Marie of Edinburgh (aged 17). This is it for Orthodox instances of child-marriage on Wikipedia. Now, most of the Orthodox world was occupied by the Ottoman Empire until the late 1800s. It is therefore safe to assume that there were probably more instances of child-marriages occurring amongst Orthodox Christians, as they might have been influenced by the dominant Islamic culture, and also because when a people faces persecution and hardships they are more likely to marry and have children at an earlier age. We see this for example in African countries where life is difficult, and to a degree expendable, so they have many children, and we can presume Orthodox Christians under the Turkish yoke might instinctively employ similar survival tactics. Yet, I am essentially playing devil’s advocate for the Catholics here, as when we see Orthodox Nations achieve their own state we do not see them permit child-marriage to the degree that we have seen in Catholic states. Now, we do have pre-schism examples of unjustifiable child-marriage. These include Judith of Flanders (aged 12) to Æthelwulf, King of Wessex (aged 61), Beatrice of Vermandois (aged about 10) to Robert, Margrave of Neustria (aged about 24), and Gisela of Hungary (aged about 11) to Stephen I of Hungary (aged about 21). We also have examples of marriages where the female is significantly younger than the man. Firstly, I will say that all of these pre-Schism instances occurred in the Latin West under Rome and would become Roman Catholic after the Schism. Secondly, the degree to which the Eastern Churches knew about these events is doubtful. I say this, because at first I wanted to justify Rome’s failure to condemn these types of marriages. Where I can say that it is possible for Rome to be ignorant of what is transpiring in the British Isles, I cannot make the same claim for Flanders or Francia. So, to defend the Early Church and by extension Orthodoxy, I will say that the geographical distances between the Latin Western and the Eastern Churches precluded the Eastern bishops from knowing what was occurring in the West and, had they known, they would have condemned it.
Paedophilia in any form is wrong. This is not something I should have to say, but there are many perverts, both on the political left and the political right, who defend it. Of course, those on the left are honest about their perversion, and they project their desires onto that which they desire, which is why they claim children are able to give consent and desire to engage in sexual activities, and that it is the right of the child to do what they want. Paedophilia is also highly correlated with homosexuality, so as we normalize homosexuality in our society, homosexuals will lobby for the normalization of paedophilia, which is something they have always supported (look at the history of the gay rights movement, NAMBLA and the writings of Michel Foucault). The thesis of those on the right who support paedophilia goes essentially as follows: “modern women are essentially irredeemable, so instead of pursuing women I will seek out a child who I can essentially raise to be the perfect wife”. I am sympathetic to men who have difficulty finding a wife in these times. This time and our culture do not cultivate virtue or chastity, but the answer is not becoming Woody Allen. That may be a crass comparison, but that is exactly what those on the right are advocating for. For those who do not know, Woody Allen dated Mia Farrow for 12 years. Mia had adopted a Korean girl, and even had a child with Allen while they were together. Upon ending his relationship with Mia, Allen would go on to marry the Korean girl five years later. Regardless of what people might claim, there is no way to argue that Allen was not grooming this girl, and this is exactly the kind of relationship that some on the far-right wish to possess.
When I commented on paedophilia and child-brides on Gab, I was disheartened when I faced opposition from someone who claims to be an Orthodox Christian. This person invoked Irene Doukaina and Anna Komnene as evidence that Orthodoxy permits child-brides and approves of them. Anna Komnene was 14 when she was married, so she does not really factor into this discussion. Alas, Irene Doukaina married Alexios while she was still 11 years old, and he was in his 20s. This is the only case I cannot justify. Wikipedia’s list of child-brides does not include examples from the Byzantine Empire, or say what Byzantine laws regarding the age of marriage was. However, we know that in the Roman Empire, 12 and 14 were the youngest marriageable age for females and males respectably. The Roman Church had adopted 12 and 14 marriageable ages for its Canons from Roman secular law. Therefore, it is fair to say that the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire had the exact same laws as the West. Although it should be noted that in Pagan Rome, Christians on average married later than pagan Romans, and therefore it is probable that these marriage trends would have persisted upon Christianity becoming the state religion. Thus legally, 12 and 14 were permitted but 15-18 was the norm.3 So yes, by the standards set by both Church and secular law, the marriage of Irene Doukaina to Alexios is exceptional. It’s not good regardless of what good came from their union and their example should be denounced, but thankfully their example is not the norm or standard set forth in Orthodoxy, so we can acknowledge it for the outlier that it is. In regards to upholding moral norms for marriage, Orthodoxy has not been falsified.
Now, I really do not think that I need to explain why paedophilic relationships are wrong. However, I will say this to men who may not actually be paedophiles but are persuaded by the arguments of those who are. It is fundamentally disordered for a man to desire to mutate the father-daughter relationship to that of a husband-wife one. One should seek out a relationship with a woman whom he shares a common frame of reference and perspective with. That is impossible when one is a child and the other is an adult. Such relationships are by their nature disbalanced. Such relationships ultimately amount to that of the male overpowering and dominating the girl; they are not partners in marriage but the one is always the child servant to the other because she will never be able to catch up to him to be his equal. Now, I am not espousing the equality of the feminists, as “equality” in that sense cannot and never will exist. If you doubt the utter inequality of the sexes, look at how the transgender fair. In marriage, equality and hierarchy coexist, just as in the Godhead. God the Father is the Monarch of the Trinity and the point-of-origin for the other Persons of the Trinity, yet the Son and Holy Spirit are His equal. It is the same in marriage between a man and a woman, where the man is the head but under his headship, the woman is his equal. It is funny, I do not know who said this, but a saint once said that every heresy and human error essentially boils down to an error in Christology or in Trinitarian Theology. Well, in regards to disbalanced marriages, we see again the heresy of adoptionism being applied to marriage. Adoptionism is the belief that Christ was not born God, but He became God through the actions of the Father. Just as Christ is denied His Godhood in such a conception, so is the woman who enters into marriage as a child. She will never fully become a wife and instead is utterly objectified and bound to her “husband” in subservience. A real man does not want a slave but a partner whom they can share their life with. Owning a slave is meaningless and says nothing about the quality of the person who owns her, but having a wife in marriage does reflect on the quality and nature of the man whom she marries. Thus, if you want to find a wife, be someone worthy of the wife you desire, because unless you actively desire a child-bride you should have no interest in children. I am not that old, but I find it difficult to relate to most children and even adults 5 years my junior. If I was single, I would want to find someone whom I could relate to. And to conclude, if you do actually have a sexual desire for children, you should repent and probably face castration or execution. I am sorry, but a functional society cannot tolerate the existence of pedophiles, as their very existence poses a grave danger and degrades society as a whole.
The most merciful thing to do for such people is to give them the opportunity to repent and then have them executed. As we have seen unfortunately in the example of the Roman Catholic Church; it is noble to want to save and help individuals with paedophilic predilections, but it is those people who have destroyed the modern image of the Catholic Church with their great number of scandals. It is impossible to trust such people and it is an unfortunate consequence of the Fall and of entropy that we are all degrading, and some people are born, due to no fault of their own, broken beyond our ability on Earth to repair. But, He who made and loves them can fix them, and to deny them of that cure is inhuman. Also, to allow such dangerous people to be free in our society is inhuman, so unfortunately for this subset of people, they are not fit to exist in our societies.
1 This is the third French child bride named Isabella I came across writing this article and the second Isabella I have mentioned in this article.
2Isabella of France to Edward II of England. Some argue that she was 12 years old at the time of the marriage, but I believe the dispensation by pope Clement V disproves this. Although they were married by proxy, a papal dispensation would not be canonically necessary for a proxy marriage, but it would be for one where one of the participants was underage.
3Hopkins, M.K. (1965). “The age of Roman girls at marriage”. Population Studies. 18 (3): 309–327. doi:10.1080/00324728.1965.10405456.
God, King, and Nation 