Keywords

• The well-known bigamous marriage of Landgrave Philip of Hesse can be seen as an attempt to test the openness of the Reformation process and its latitude for the normative restructuring of gender relations. In this situation Philip tried to introduce an option which he justified as a kind of third way between the strategic partnerships resulting from dynastic marriage policies and the widespread practice of extramarital relationships
• mostly performed by the male members of the high nobility. Beyond the presumably â€
• œ
• realâ€
• 
• motives and interests of the protagonists
• which in fact cannot be definitely detected
• the paper focusses on the way in which this experiment has been justified
• shaped and perceived from different perspectives in regard to its dynastic consequences. In fact
• it provoked debates which reflected the high noblesâ€
• ™
• love life in a rather unique way and involved not only the protagonists
• but also the leading representatives of the reformation movement and lastly
• the entire public since the affair was picked up in the context of the vehement
• polemics of the time. To reach his purpose
• Philip had to translate his intention into moral categories
• which
• as a result of its public echo
• fell back to him and exposed the princesâ€
• ™
• practices to moral verdicts. In regard to the consequences within the family
• it turned out that in fact it was impossible to evade serious conflicts since the more or less equal status of both wives
• in regard to the validity of marriage
• could not be unambiguously reconciled with the inevitable differences of rank. Thus
• the logic of reformation debate
• while encouraging Philipâ€
• ™
• s advance
• imposed moral categories on princely behaviour
• but
• as it turned out
• did not really offer a sustainable alternative