ever be attained, mainly the adulterini and children whose parents were denied matrimony, mainly those who had taken ecclesiastical orders and vows, the spurii.31 Canon law doctrine on legitimacy mixed the legal, political and theological experience of the Western Church from Justinian to Innocent III as well as Old Testament law. The contract aspect of entering marriage was Roman by character, though the Roman concept of familia was rejected as incompatible with Christian moral theology. The ban on the adulterini and priest children was Justinian. The principle of affinity had both Roman and a Jewish background. Canon law doctrine on legitimacy had its roots deep in Roman and Jewish soil. The canon law position on legitimacy cannot sufficiently explain its tremendous impact on the Church as well as on feudal society. The answer is simply that both the Church and the feudal society benefited from it. The Church could underpin its long-term policy of making its organisation independent of secular power. No son of a bishop could any longer inherit his father’s office. No ecclesiastical property could any longer be illicitly transferred by inheritance. Clergy removal from involvement in secular matters was crucial for centralising Church power and authority into papal hands. To secular society, legitimacy made clear who was entitled to succession, in terms of property as well as feudal rights and positions of power. Legitimacy was essential to the rise of hereditary monarchy and has remained so until this very day. Legitimacy infused stability into the 128 31 Mayali (1990), 66-68. Legitimacy, more than a theological question
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