Consanguinity: Encyclopedia - Consanguinity

Consanguinity

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 consaguinity 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.

See also

• Heredity
• Cousin chart
• Genealogy
• Genetics
• Inbreeding
• Mendelian inheritance
• Pedigree collapse

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Consanguinity", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki