THE HISTORY OF DIVORCE
A Summary from Blake & Associates Law Firm
By Amanda Foreman
In the United States, the probability of a first marriage ending in divorce stands at about 50/50. Even at that, the U. S. comes in third place, being beaten out by the Maldives and Belarus for first and second. The reality is that for a majority of the population, life is a series of relationships that may or may not last very long. Unfortunately, children are frequently the often unwanted result of those short-lived relationships.
Divorce has been around for a very long time, so perhaps looking at the history of divorce will lend some understanding to how we got where we are today. The most celebrated divorce in history has to be that of Henry VIII who petitioned the unwilling Pope Clement VII to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Why did he want an annulment? Because she had failed to give him a male heir to inherit his throne. The Pope's refusal set off a series of events that subsequently changed the world. But it did not immediately result in a rash of divorces.