grounds for divorce

nursemyra has uncovered some strange old Welsh customs whilst researching leprosy in the middle ages. not only was it a nasty disease, it was also one of the three legitimate reasons a wife could cite to divorce her husband and reclaim her dowry. the other reasons were foul breath and failure to have sexual relations.

If a woman found her husband with another woman, she was entitled to a payment of six score pence the first time and a pound the second time; on the third occasion she was entitled to divorce him. If the husband had a concubine, the wife was allowed to strike her without having to pay any compensation, even if it resulted in the concubine’s death. A woman could only be beaten by her husband for three things: for giving away something which she was not entitled to give away, for being found with another man or for wishing a blemish on her husband’s beard

three unusual grounds for divorce were not the only interesting things I discovered about Wales. the pioneer of cremation was a welshman of charming eccentricities. Dr William Price was a 19th century vegetarian nudist who wore a fox pelt on his head and treated his patients with herbal potions and druid chanting. as an octagenarian, he married a woman many decades his junior and fathered a baby named Jesus. there is no record of him ever having suffered from leprosy or halitosis………