Enbrotherment: What Was It?

From wikipedia and reddit:

Also, historian Allan A. Tulchin recently argued that a form of male same-sex marriage existed in Medieval France, and possibly other areas in Europe, as well. There was a legal category called "enbrotherment" (affrèrement) that allowed two men to share living quarters, pool their resources, and effectively live as a married couple. The couple shared "one bread, one wine, one purse."[64] The article received considerable attention in the English-language press, since Tulchin may have discovered the earliest form of same-sex marriage.[65] Tulchin's views have also sparked significant controversy, as they challenge the generally held view that the medieval period was one of the most anti-gay in history.

I just found this mention on reddit. But I was wondering, firstly was this an actually historically attested phenomenon? Or is it one of those things where the historian finds a single mention/case of it and concludes that it was commonplace? And do we know what it ACTUALLY entailed (i.e. was it a common-law "gay" marriage? Or is it "hey, neither me nor my best friend (who just happens to be a guy) can afford a place by ourselves so lets just live together" (what I've been doing for the last four years of college)
 
Yea, it does sound a lot like adelphopoiesis as well as the Slavic tradition of pobratimstvo or the Western Rite ordo ad fratres faciendum. It seems there's...argument as to whether any or all of these traditions resembled a same-sex marriage or a Christianized form of "blood brotherhood", with some secular scholars arguing the former and many religious ones the latter. I don't have a fine enough grasp of the history of the orthodox church to really comment on that dispute, but I will add that there is a ban on same-sex marriage in the Theodosian Code (Liber IX, Chapter VII, Section III), suggesting that it was a practice in the Empire at that time. Perhaps adelphopoiesis was a way to fit the practice into early Christian theology?

As an aside, re: homophobia in the Middle Ages, IIRC the early and high middle ages were, if not particularly accepting of homosexuality, not particularly concerned with it either, seeing it as a sin but certainly not a notable one. It's only after the Black Plague that you see more zealous persecution of homosexuality, due to society's broader intolerance of anything it perceived as sin.
 
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Sounds a lot like adelphopoiesis.

It comes close, except that from what I can make out, the concept of "enbrotherment" has no (necessary) religious aspect.

Yea, it does sound a lot like adelphopoiesis as well as the Slavic tradition of pobratimstvo or the Western Rite ordem ad fratres faciendum. It seems there's...argument as to whether any or all of these traditions resembled a same-sex marriage or a Christianized form of "blood brotherhood", with some secular scholars arguing the former and many religious ones the latter. I don't have a fine enough grasp of the history of the orthodox church to really comment on that dispute, but I will add that there is a ban on same-sex marriage in the Theodosian Code (Liber IX, Chapter VII, Section III), suggesting that it was a practice in the Empire at that time. Perhaps adelphopoiesis was a way to fit the practice into early Christian theology?

As an aside, re: homophobia in the Middle Ages, IIRC the early and high middle ages were, if not particularly accepting of homosexuality, not particularly concerned with it either, seeing it as a sin but certainly not a notable one. It's only after the Black Plague that you see more zealous persecution of homosexuality, due to society's broader intolerance of anything it perceived as sin.

It doesn't seem entirely impossible, however, the motive for enbrotherment seems to be financial (the "one purse one bread" part) of sharing costs. I'm not familiar with adelphopoiesis but if it IS a Christianization of an earlier concept (blood brothers) it sounds more along the lines of parabatai or fighting companions (Christianized to "spiritual" brothers in arms).

Just my thoughts. I don't say I'm right or that you're wrong. But the fact that the Catholic Church was familiar with adelphopoiesis (until the 14th century) would suggest that affrèrement is a different concept. Although perhaps the difference was simply civil vs religious?
 
It comes close, except that from what I can make out, the concept of "enbrotherment" has no (necessary) religious aspect.

Sure, but "embrotherment" is a reasonable translation of adelphopoiesis.

It doesn't seem entirely impossible, however, the motive for enbrotherment seems to be financial (the "one purse one bread" part) of sharing costs. I'm not familiar with adelphopoiesis but if it IS a Christianization of an earlier concept (blood brothers) it sounds more along the lines of parabatai or fighting companions (Christianized to "spiritual" brothers in arms).

Just my thoughts. I don't say I'm right or that you're wrong. But the fact that the Catholic Church was familiar with adelphopoiesis (until the 14th century) would suggest that affrèrement is a different concept. Although perhaps the difference was simply civil vs religious?

The "One Purse One Bread" thing, though, could equally have spiritual as well as financial considerations, and I don't think it's logical to say that adelphopoiesis was necessarily a solely-financial arrangement due to this financial reference in an era when (heterosexual) marriage was definitely also a financial or political arrangement, as much or more than a romantic one.

Edit: I have also found references to a description of same-sex marriage in the Celtic Church in a paper referencing Topographia Hibernica.
 
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The "One Purse One Bread" thing, though, could equally have spiritual as well as financial considerations, and I don't think it's logical to say that adelphopoiesis was necessarily a solely-financial arrangement due to this financial reference in an era when (heterosexual) marriage was definitely also a financial or political arrangement, as much or more than a romantic one.

You misunderstand me. What I understood is that adelphopoiesis seems to be more a spiritual state than a worldly one. For instance, two guys/girls who are in such a relationship (whatever they may be called) don't necessarily live together or the like. Whereas these enbrothered pairs seem to be more like a room-share, food-share sort of arrangement.

And I agree. The bread, wine thing could easily be construed as referring to the Eucharist.
 
You misunderstand me. What I understood is that adelphopoiesis seems to be more a spiritual state than a worldly one. For instance, two guys/girls who are in such a relationship (whatever they may be called) don't necessarily live together or the like. Whereas these enbrothered pairs seem to be more like a room-share, food-share sort of arrangement.

Most of the references I've found would refer to male couples as either adelphoi "brothers" or erastai "lovers" (in the case of Saints Sergius and Bacchus), the latter obviously supporting the idea that it was a sexual/romantic relationship.
 
Most of the references I've found would refer to male couples as either adelphoi "brothers" or erastai "lovers" (in the case of Saints Sergius and Bacchus), the latter obviously supporting the idea that it was a sexual/romantic relationship.

Alright. Call me convinced that they are similar set-ups then. The two still seem to be separate concepts, since there doesn't seem to be a thing like "adelphopoiesis a.k.a. affrèrement" - hence my previous remark about it possibly being lay versus religious - perhaps originating independently from one another?
 
Alright. Call me convinced that they are similar set-ups then. The two still seem to be separate concepts, since there doesn't seem to be a thing like "adelphopoiesis a.k.a. affrèrement" - hence my previous remark about it possibly being lay versus religious - perhaps originating independently from one another?

Yea, they're definitely separate though similar concepts. I think, though, that the distinction is more temporal than religious/secular, with the differences in conception of the patterns resulting not from theological distinction but rather from the distinct cultural milieus of medieval France and late-antiquity Rome.
 
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