Marital issues of Bosnian Christians in the nineteenth century: authorisations, interventions and prohibitions

This study focuses on Christian marriages in nineteenth-centuryBosnia in order to analyse the interventions and prohibitions imposedby the Ottoman central authorities. Focusing on Christian marriagesthat attracted the intervention of the Ottoman centre, it highlightshow unions across religious and national boundaries could generatestate concerns extending beyond private and confessional spheres. Thestudy first analyses marriages between non-Muslim women andforeigners and the conditions under which such unions wereprohibited. Secondly it concentrates on marriages between Christianwomen and Muslim men that were restricted by the central authoritiesdespite being permissible under Islamic law. It then examines casesof alleged forced marriage and appeals for annulment. Fourthly, itaddresses clerical complaints concerning second marriages andconsecutive marriages, which are subject to restrictions andprohibitions under Christian canon law. Finally, the study examinesclerical appeals to the Ottoman central authorities to prevent thecollection of marriage taxes by Muslim officials and analyses stateregulations aimed at limiting the costs of Christian weddings,including expensive bridal clothing and dowries.Based on a wide range of archival documents from the Ottoman Archives, the article argues that state interventions in Christian marriages were motivated not only by religious considerations but also by concerns regarding public order, imperial sovereignty, legal pluralism and the management of relations between different religious communities in a politically sensitive border region. The findings demonstrate that marriage constituted an important arena in which state authority, communal autonomy and individual agency intersected, revealing the active role of the Ottoman administration in regulating the lives of its non-Muslim subjects.