Smith M T, Asquith-Charlton R M, Blodwell L M, Clements C M, Ellam C J
Ann Hum Biol. 1993 Jul-Aug;20(4):357-68. doi: 10.1080/03014469300002762.
Estimates of inbreeding are rather scarce for British populations. A number of studies, especially of Scottish island populations, have focused on pedigree analysis, whilst others have used survey methods or inference from isonymy. By comparison with continental Europe, however, little is known of the historical development of inbreeding. This is undoubtedly due to the lack of evidence from dispensations to marry blood relatives, which are routinely available in the records of marriage of the Roman Catholic church. The paper uses as its data source the Faculty Office Registers, 1534-1540, which were the product of a new system of issuing dispensations following the Dispensations Act of 1533, and which are among the earliest administrative records of the Church of England, founded as a result of Henry VIII's breach with Rome. Dispensations are recorded in the Faculty Office until 1540, when all prohibitions on marriage beyond the proscribed relationships laid down in Leviticus were lifted. The data suggest surprisingly low levels of consanguineous marriage, including a lack of first-cousin marriages. These findings are discussed in terms of the reliability of the archive, and of the social and religious views attending marriage between blood relatives in the medieval and early modern periods.
关于英国人群近亲繁殖的估计相当稀少。许多研究，特别是对苏格兰岛屿人群的研究，集中在谱系分析上，而其他研究则采用调查方法或从姓氏相同进行推断。然而，与欧洲大陆相比，人们对近亲繁殖的历史发展了解甚少。这无疑是由于缺乏来自准许与血亲结婚的豁免证明的证据，而在罗马天主教会的婚姻记录中通常可以获得此类证据。本文使用1534年至1540年的教务长办公室登记簿作为数据源，这些登记簿是1533年《豁免法案》之后新的豁免发放系统的产物，也是英格兰教会最早的行政记录之一，英格兰教会是亨利八世与罗马决裂后建立的。直到1540年，豁免证明都记录在教务长办公室，当时《利未记》规定的禁止近亲结婚的所有限制都被解除。数据显示近亲结婚的比例低得出奇，包括缺乏表亲婚姻。本文从档案的可靠性以及中世纪和近代早期血亲之间婚姻的社会和宗教观念方面对这些发现进行了讨论。
