There are two different points when looking at the subject of divorce in Geneva and France. The first point would be trying to establish a reason for divorce in Geneva and France. Secondly, looking at how women were treated when accused of being the guilty party when a case of divorce was brought forth in Geneva and France. This includes taking a look at the ramifications of a conviction of adultery in France and Geneva.

In Geneva, divorce was legal, but very hard to come by. There were many different reasons for filing for divorce in Geneva. One of these reasons was blasphemy. Blasphemy was one of the reasons used by a man by the name of Pierre Ameaux. Ameaux was filing for divorce from a woman he had married three years earlier. In his case he stated that the woman he was married to held "an opinion that is against the Word of God, namely that she can associate with all men and that all are her husbands." Another reason for filing for divorce in Geneva was adultery. There were many interpretations of adultery in Geneva. Again we will take a look at Pierre Ameaux. In his second trial of trying to receive divorce from his wife, Ameaux accused his wife of adultery.

Another adultery for divorce example in Geneva was that of Antoine Calvin brought against his wife Anne Le Fert. Antoine was John Calvin's brother. John reported that he was terribly upset because of a suspicion of adultery between the wife of his brother Antoine and a young man named Jean Chautemps. This shows that adultery charges did not have to come from the significant other of the accused, but could come from someone else. John tried to establish his reasons by a series of events that had happened. On one occasion he had broken into the house at three in the morning and entered Anne's bedroom. Several other times Anne had prepared meals for him, always when her husband was away, sometimes when he was out of town, never with her husband's knowledge or permission. Jean Chautemps had offered Anne expensive gifts, most notably a ring, at that time a frequent token of a marriage promise. Later the Calvin brothers brought charges on Anne Le Fert again that she had a lover and he was a servant boy.

Ameaux's wife was Benoite. She was questioned on three different accusations of adultery. One involved a man whom she had invited to dinner in the house she shared with Ameaux and to whom she was alleged to have offered her body following dinner. This shows adultery in the form of just offering with no physical action. Her second questioning involved a charge that she had slept with two men while in jail during the earlier investigation, one an employee of the jail, the other a fellow prisoner from the neighboring town of Sacconay. The third question the council asked her about was a statement that Benoite had made earlier that everyone should share everything. The council asked her about this statement. She was asked if that she felt it would be no sin for her to have the company of any man. In this case alone it is able to see the different forms of adultery.

Finding a reason for divorce was much tougher in France. A marriage in France had to follow rules in order for the marriage to be legal. The marriage regulations were stated in the Family-State compact. Edicts were put in the Family-State compact. These edicts were composed of innovative French laws. The edict of 1556 required that to make a marriage legal, parental (patriarchal) consent was needed for marriages of family children. Rules were also amended by the marriage pacts. The ordinance of

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Approximate Word count = 1618
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)