Divorces in Bessarabia in the first half of the 19th century

A study of the problem of divorce in the 19th century is no less important than research of other issues in the field of marriage and family, because this act influenced the position of ex-spouses, especially women in society. A limited number of grounds for divorce, as well as the social foundation and moral principles of the 19th century made a divorce very difficult and controversial issue. The issues of divorce in the history of Moldova and Wallachia during the 19th century were examined in works by V. Barbu, S. Solcan, C. Ghiţulescu, M.M. Szekely, L. Zabolotnaia, S. Bolovan, I. Bolovan, and M. Brie. Their studies indicate that the Orthodox Church allowed the dissolution of marriage in certain cases, such as adultery, inappropriate behavior, battering and threat to life, expulsion of the wife out of home, taking the monastic vows, heresy, proxenetism, lesbianism, pedophilia, etc. However, until now there were not published any works on the history of marital divorce in Bessarabia after 1812, when it became a part of the Russian Empire. This article provides specific examples of how the church rules on divorce were respected in the first half of the 19th century. As research sources there were used documents from the State Archives of the Republic of Moldova, namely from the files of the Chişinău Theological Consistory and the Civil Court of Bessarabia, which addressed such matters. The reasons for divorce in Bessarabia in the first half of the 19th century were a violation of church rules concerning marriage, monasticism, attempt on the spouse's life, adultery and some others. At the same time, the ecclesiastical authorities usually tried to prevent divorce, doing everything possible to preserve the family.