September 20, 1792:

Right to divorce and prohibition of perpetual vows

Before separating and making way for the 1st French Republic, the Legislative Assembly voted on September 20, 1792 for a law that both authorized divorce and prohibited perpetual vows (the possibility of entering a convent).

For the revolutionaries, in fact, Liberty required that no commitment be irrevocable!

At the same time, municipal officers were entrusted with keeping civil status registers (births, marriages and deaths).

This crucial function, assigned to priests since the Villers-Cotterêts ordinance, would add to the prestige of the municipal councils established by the law of December 14, 1789.

It should be noted that civil marriage had already been established a year earlier.