Incest Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===From the Middle Ages onward=== {{multiple image | align = left | total_width = 440 | image1 = W.Clerke table.PNG | caption1 = Table of prohibited marriages from ''The Trial of Bastardie'' by [[William Clerke (writer)|William Clerke]]. London, 1594 | image2 = Rey_Carlos_II.jpg | caption2 = [[Charles II of Spain]] was born physically disabled, likely due to centuries of inbreeding in the [[House of Habsburg]], and suffered a particularly pronounced case of [[Habsburg jaw]] }} Many European monarchs were related due to political marriages, such that many such marriages were between cousins of some degree, uncles and nieces, and so forth, and sometimes first cousins. This was especially true in the [[House of Habsburg|Habsburg]], [[House of Hohenzollern|Hohenzollern]], [[House of Savoy|Savoy]], and [[House of Bourbon|Bourbon]] royal houses. However, relations between siblings, which may have been tolerated in other cultures, were considered abhorrent. For example, the false accusation that [[Anne Boleyn]] and her brother, [[George Boleyn, 2nd Viscount Rochford|George Boleyn]], had committed incest was one of the reasons given for both being executed in May 1536. Historians agree that the false accusation against Anne Boleyn and George Boleyn was trumped up in order to ensure the king could go on to marry [[Jane Seymour]].<ref>[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-many-myths-of-lady-rochford-the-tudor-noblewoman-who-supposedly-betrayed-george-and-anne-boleyn-180980520/] Solly, Meilan. "The Myths of Lady Rochford, the Tudor Noblewoman Who Supposedly Betrayed George and Anne Boleyn". ''Smithsonian Magazine''. August 4, 2022.</ref> Sects deemed heretical, such as the [[Waldensians]], were accused of incest.<ref name="Gow Desjardins Pageau 2016 p. 64">{{cite book | last1=Gow | first1=A.C. | last2=Desjardins | first2=R.B. | last3=Pageau | first3=F.V. | title=The Arras Witch Treatises: Johannes Tinctor's Invectives contre la secte de vauderie and the Recollectio casus, status et condicionis Valdensium ydolatrarum by the Anonymous of Arras (1460) | publisher=Penn State University Press | series=Magic in History Sourcebooks | year=2016 | isbn=978-0-271-07750-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PW8RDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT64 | access-date=2023-04-01 | page=64}}</ref> Incestuous marriages were also seen in the royal houses of ancient [[Japan]] and Korea,<ref>Smith, George Patrick (1998). [https://books.google.com/books?id=HLPDS2UXaqAC&pg=PA143 ''Family Values and the New Society: Dilemmas of the 21st Century'']. [[Greenwood Publishing Group]] via [[Google Books]]. p. 143.</ref> Inca [[Peru]], [[Ancient Hawaii]], and, at times, Central Africa, [[Mexico]], and [[Thailand]].<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20100822132434/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/09/tut-dna/dobbs-text/2 The Risks and Rewards of Royal Incest]". National Geographic Magazine.</ref> Like the kings of ancient Egypt, the [[Inca]] rulers married their sisters. [[Huayna Capac]], for instance, was the son of [[Topa Inca Yupanqui]] and the Inca's sister and wife.<ref>Sarmiento de Gamboa, Pedro. [https://books.google.com/books?id=T0q_A1BaSVsC&pg=PA151 ''The History of the Incas.''] Austin: University of Texas Press, 2007. p.171. {{ISBN|978-0-292-71485-4}}.</ref> The ruling Inca king was expected to marry his full sister. If he had no children by his eldest sister, he married the second and third until they had children. Preservation of the purity of the Sun's blood was one of the reasons for the brother{{ndash}}sister marriage of the Inca king. The Inca kings claimed divine descent from celestial bodies and emulated the behavior of their celestial ancestor, the Sun, who married his sister, the Moon. Another reason the princes and kings married their sisters was so the heir might inherit the kingdom as much as through his mother as through his father. Therefore, the prince could invoke both principles of inheritance.<ref name="royal incest and inclusive fitness">{{cite journal |title= royal incest and inclusive fitness|last1= vand den Berghe |first1= Pierre L.|last2= Mesher|first2= Gene M.|journal= American Ethnologist|date= 10 December 1979|volume= 7|issue= 2|pages= 300–317|publisher= University of Washington|doi= 10.1525/ae.1980.7.2.02a00050|doi-access= free}}</ref> Half-sibling marriages were found in ancient Japan, such as the marriage of [[Emperor Bidatsu]] and his half-sister [[Empress Suiko]].<ref>Lloyd, Arthur (2004). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Pl_7PollB60C&pg=PA180 ''The Creed Of Half Japan: Historical Sketches Of Japanese Buddhism'']. [[Kessinger Publishing]] via [[Google Books]]. p. 180.</ref> Japanese [[Prince Kinashi no Karu]] had sexual relations with his full sister Princess Karu no Ōiratsume, although the action was regarded as foolish.<ref>[[Edwin Cranston|Cranston, Edwin A.]] (1998). [https://books.google.com/books?id=KqWjwalbmx4C&pg=PA805 ''A Waka Anthology: The Gem-Glistening Cup'']. [[Stanford University Press]] via [[Google Books]]. p. 805.</ref> In order to prevent the influence of the other families, Korean [[Goryeo]] dynasty monarch [[Gwangjong of Goryeo|Gwangjong]] married his half-sister Daemok in the 10th century.<ref>Shultz, Edward J. (2000). [https://books.google.com/books?id=fM9sEyxzVq8C&pg=PA169 ''Generals and Scholars: Military Rule in Medieval Korea'']. [[University of Hawaii Press]], p. 169.</ref> Marriage with a family member not related by blood was also regarded as contravening morality and was therefore incest. One example of this is the 14th century [[Chunghye of Goryeo]], who raped one of his deceased [[Princess Gyeonghwa|father's concubines]], who was thus regarded to be his mother.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Asogawa Shizuo 麻生川静男 |title=Hontōni hisan'na Chōsen-shi 'kōraishisetsuyō' o yomi kai |script-title=ja:本当に悲惨な朝鮮史 「高麗史節要」を読み解く |publisher=KADOKAWA |year=2017 |isbn=978-4-04-082109-2|pages=58–59|language=ja}}</ref> In India, the largest proportion of women aged 13 to 49 who marry their close relatives are in [[Tamil Nadu]], then [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[Karnataka]], and [[Maharashtra]]. While it is rare for uncle{{ndash}}niece marriages, it is more common in [[Andhra Pradesh]] and [[Tamil Nadu]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Wal |first=Ruchi Mishra S. |title=Ency. Of Health Nutrition And Family Wel.(3 Vol) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=89N78kYLFNQC |year=2000 |publisher=Sarup & Sons |isbn=978-81-7625-171-6 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=89N78kYLFNQC&pg=PA166 166]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=United Nations Publications|title=Asia-Pacific Population Journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zseZeGgQlDwC |year=2002 |publisher=United Nations Publications |isbn=978-92-1-120340-0 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=zseZeGgQlDwC&pg=PA23 23]}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page