On the wide use of "metaphor" in the history of the church see Lecky, Democracy and Liberty, II, 217; and especially his Hist. of European Morals, II, 326, 327, 356-58.
[141] For once at least we can almost pardon Milton for using strong language. Selden's work, Of the Law of Nature and of Nations, he holds more useful than anything which "pontifical clerks have doted on, ever since that unfortunate mother famously sinned thrice, and died impenitent of her bringing into the world those two misbegotten infants, and for ever infants, Lombard and Gratian, him the compiler of canon iniquity, the other the Tubalcain of scholastic sophistry, whose over-spreading barbarism hath not only infused their own bastardy upon the fruitfullest part of human learning, not only dissipated and dejected the clear light of nature in us, and of nations, but hath tainted also the fountains of divine doctrine, and rendered the pure and solid law of God unbeneficial to us by their calumnious dunceries."—"Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce," Prose Works, III, 269.
[142] Cf. especially Decretum Gratiani, cc. 1-24, causa xxxii, qu. 7: Richter-Friedberg, Corpus Juris Can., I; Peter Lombard, Sententiae, IV, D. xxvii ff.
[143] Esmein, op. cit., II, 79, 80. The early canonists are discussed by Geffcken, op. cit., 58-62, 75-82; Cigoi, Unauflösbarkeit, 93 ff.; but for the most minute examination of them all see Freisen, op. cit., 793-847; also the very clear account of Esmein, op. cit., II, 71 ff. On the formation of the canon law see Tissot, Le mariage, 111 ff.
[144] Esmein, op. cit., II, 73, 85-89, who gives a brief account of the evolution of the uses of the term divortium. Originally, among the canonists, there was but one kind of divorce, i. e., any judicial separation between man and wife, whether or not with the right to remarry. This led to confusion; and so the distinction between divorce a vinculo or quoad vinculum and a mensa et toro or quoad mensam et torum was differentiated. Beginning with Bernard of Pavia, the first compiler of the Decretals, the term divortium appears regularly as a rubric in the later collections of the canon law.
[145] For the exceptions see Esmein, op. cit., II, 91, 92; Freisen, op. cit., 833-36; Scheurl, Das gem. deut. Eherecht, 288, 289.
[146] More exactly speaking fornicatio spiritualis "as opposed to fornicatio carnalis," the first cause mentioned.
[147] Crimes against nature, idolatry, etc.: Esmein, op. cit., II, 90 n. 1.
[148] Such as forcing a spouse to idolatry or to some heinous crime. This case is regarded as an enlargement of the conception of fornicatio spiritualis: Esmein, op. cit., II, 90 n. 4, 92 nn. 8, 9. Cf. Freisen, op. cit., 836.
[149] Esmein, op. cit., II, 93, 94. Earlier divorce a mensa et thoro was not granted on this ground unless there was real danger to the life of one of the parties; but at last it was decided that nimia saevitia would suffice, but the term is not defined: idem, loc. cit. In general on this species of divorce see Freisen, op. cit., 830-47; Geary, Marriage and Family Relations, 238, 239, 350; Scheurl, Das gem. deut. Eherecht, 286-91.