An avunculate marriage is a
marriage with a parent's sibling or with one's sibling's child—i.e., between an
uncle or
aunt and their
niece or
nephew. Such a marriage may occur between
biological (consanguine) relatives or between persons related by marriage (
affinity). In some countries, avunculate marriages are
prohibited by law, while in others marriages between such biological relatives are both legal and common, though now far less common.[citation needed]
If the partners in an avunculate marriage are biologically related, they normally have the same genetic relationship as
half-siblings, or a grandparent and grandchild—that is they share approximately 25% of their genetic material. (They are therefore more closely related than partners in a
marriage between first cousins, in which on average the members share 12.5% of
inherited genetic material, but less than that of a marriage between, for instance,
cousin-siblings, in which the partners
share 37.5% of their inherited genetic material.)
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus and his brother
Arruns Tarquinius respectively married sisters Tullia Major and
Tullia Minor, who may have been their nieces. Superbus and Tullia Minor later disposed of their original spouses and married each other.
Prince William of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld and his half-niece Princess Juliane of Bentheim and Steinfurt (1873), and later his half-niece Princess Adelaide of Bentheim and Steinfurt (1879).
Avunculate marriage was a preferred type of union in some pre-modern societies. Marriages between such close relatives were frequent in
Ancient Egypt, at least among members of ruling dynasties.
Abrahamic faiths
In societies adhering to
Jewish or Christian faiths, such marriages were sometimes allowed. The
Talmud and
Maimonides encourage marriages between uncles and nieces, though some early
Jewish religious communities, such as the
Sadducees, believed that such unions were prohibited by the
Torah.[18] Among medieval and especially early-modern
Christians, a marriage between a woman and the sibling of a parent was not always interpreted as violating
Leviticus 18; this was especially so among the
royal houses of Europe, and in Catholic countries a papal dispensation could be obtained to allow such a marriage.
Medieval European royals
Avunculate marriages were prominent in the
House of Habsburg. For example,
Charles II of Spain was the son of an uncle and niece,
Philip IV and
Mariana of Austria; in turn, both of Philip's parents (and therefore both of Mariana's maternal grandparents) were the children of uncle-niece marriages, one of which also produced Mariana's paternal grandfather. As a result, instead of Charles' parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great-grandparents adding up to 30 different individuals, they numbered only 23.
South India's Hindus
Avunculate marriage was common among
South India's
Hindus. Currently, it is mostly practiced in rural and small to medium cities. The most common form is where the elder daughter is married away to her youngest maternal uncle.[19] The wedding is usually called Maman Kalyanam (Thai Maman Kalyanam in
Tamil Nadu). It was culturally preferred for at least one daughter to be married to an uncle. This is extensively featured as a plot device in many south Indian movies, such as Thaamirabharani (2007)[20] and Thai Maaman (1994).[21]
^Pikkanen, Antti (24 July 2014).
"Lapsena alttarille – Jenna Karjalainen meni naimisiin alaikäisenä". Nyt.fi.
Helsingin Sanomat. Retrieved 26 July 2015. [Oikeusm]inisteriö käsittelee myös muita avioliittoon liittyviä poikkeuslupia. Lupaa voi anoa, jos esimerkiksi haluaa mennä naimisiin sisarensa lapsen kanssa. Mutta sellaisia hakemuksia tulee hyvin harvoin, 2000-luvulla pari kolme.
^Oliveira, Catarina.
"Barão de Mauá". InfoEscola (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-08-27. In 1840, he left for England, where he came into contact with capitalist reality and the inventions of the Industrial Revolution. The following year, he returned and proposed to his niece. They married in 1841 and the union had 12 children, of which 10 survived.