From Wikipedia,
the free encyclopedia
Consanguinity is the
quality of being
descended from the same
ancestor as another
person.
The degree of relative
consanguinity can be illustrated
with a
consanguinity table, in which
each level of lineal consanguinity
(i.e.,
generation) appears as a row,
and individuals with a
collaterally-consanguinious
relationship share the same row.
The connotations of degree of
consanguinity varies by context
(e.g.,
canon law, Roman law, et al.).
Most cultures define a degree of
consanguinity below which sexual
interrelationships are regarded as
incestuous. In the
Catholic Church, unwittingly
marrying a closely-consanguinious
blood relative is grounds for an
annulment.
Historically, some
European nobles cited a close
degree of consanguinuity when they
required convenient grounds for
divorce, especially in
contexts where
religious doctrine forbade the
voluntary dissolution of a failed
marriage. Conversely, the
consanguinity law of
succession requires the next
monarch to be of the same
blood of the previous one;
allowing, for example,
illegitimate children to
inherit.
The word consanguinity is
voiced in the
United States Declaration of
Independence.
"We have reminded them of the
circumstances of our emigration
and settlement here. We have
appealed to their native justice
and magnimity, and we have
conjured them by the ties of our
common kindred to disavow these
usurpations, which, would
inevitably interrupt our
connections and correspondence.
They too have been deaf to the
voice of justice, and of
consanguinity. We must,
therefor, acquiesce in the
necessity, which denounces our
separation, and hold them, as we
hold the rest of mankind, Enemies
in War, in Peace Friends."
