Byzantine marriage customs

Just a few questions about Byzantine marriage customs.

1. Did they have any particular rules regarding consanguinity? I know there was outrage at Emperor Heraclius marrying Martina, his niece. I ask because, eventually, all the major houses could trace their lineage back to Alexios I.

2. For example, John V Palaiologos, Michael VIII's great-great-grandson was married to Helena Kantakouzenos, who was the great-granddaughter of Michael VIII's daughter, Eirene. In addition, John Kantakouzenos' eldest son, Matthew, married Eirene Palaiologos, a cousin of Andronikos III by his uncle, Demetrius Palaiologos. Were there any objections to this?

3. Regarding the previous example, did they follow certain parts of the Bible closely, like, say, Leviticus (the passage Henry VIII used when trying to divorce Catherine of Aragon)? For example, if, John V Palaiologos marries Helena Kantakouzenos, then dies before the marriage is consummated, would John Kantakouzenos try to marry Helena off to John V's (younger/elder) brother, Michael?*

*: He did exist IOTL. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Palaiologos_(son_of_Andronikos_III)

I'm sorry if I'm not making any sense, but I'd just like to clear a few things up. I'll try to clarify some points if asked.
 
I'm thinking of wedding ceremony of Juan Carlos and Sofia (the parents of present King Philip VI and former monarchs) in Athens back in '62.
 
You mean orthodox marriage customs?As long as you have enough power and as long as the Church fears you/likes you enough,then your marriage gets approved by the Patriarch.Consanguinity isn't really a problem once you have marriages like that of Heraclius and Martina approved by the Church.
 
I thought that the normal Byzantine rule was no closer than fourth cousin, but the patriarch could waive the rule conditionally.
 
Bumping for interest. (Specifically for clarification my last post.)

Just to clarify, I'm only interested in terms of Crusader Kings 2 gameplay. There have been near-similar cases in history. Welsh prince Llywelyn the Great, before he married John Lackland's illegitimate daughter, had been negotiating with the Pope to try and marry his uncle's widow, and they'd already had three sons together.

God, I'm sounding weird. All I'm interested in is if a Byzantine emperor could do such a thing, regardless of church law.
 
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I thought the Byzantine rules about consanguinity are that marriage is forbidden if the people are related through 7 degrees of kinship or closer. (6 degrees if the relation is not through blood but other marriages)

Of course, a sufficiently stable and powerful Emperor could bent these rules with a random excuse (Andronikos I's "they're bastards so it doesn't count"), or maybe even with no excuse at all.
 

Deleted member 67076

1. Yes, generally. Heraclius' marriage was frowned upon by all sectors of society, but it was viewed as a necessary evil given the times and the need for an heir. But it was again, criticized and viewed as blasphemous (See when one of their kids died before reaching maturity)

2. No, because the Palaiologoi, much like the Comnenoi were a really, really, really big clan, and nearly all the nobility at the time was distantly related to one another. This was seen as par the course. Granted, this might just be cultural shift.

3. Nah. That's squicky.
 
1. Yes, generally. Heraclius' marriage was frowned upon by all sectors of society, but it was viewed as a necessary evil given the times and the need for an heir. But it was again, criticized and viewed as blasphemous (See when one of their kids died before reaching maturity)

2. No, because the Palaiologoi, much like the Comnenoi were a really, really, really big clan, and nearly all the nobility at the time was distantly related to one another. This was seen as par the course. Granted, this might just be cultural shift.

3. Nah. That's squicky.

3. Which one is squicky? Helena Kantakouzenos being remarried to John V's brother if he dies and the marriage wasn't consummated? Or Theodore II marrying Constance Hohenstaufen?

Okay, I promise I won't bring that up again, but I was wondering who Theodore II might remarry to if he had survived and the only other candidates I could think of would be either Latin Emperor Baldwin II's daughter, a daughter of Hethum I of Armenian Cilicia or maybe a princess from Galich-Volhynia.
 
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