Besides birth and death, marriage represents one of the fundamental demographic phenomena through which we can diagnose a population. The introduction of civil marriage into Transylvania by means of law XXXI, XXXII and XXXIII from 1894 represented a breaking-point which opened the way for extensive transformations regarding society and mentality in the communities referred to. The impact caused by the introduction of civil marriage equalled the announced changes: both the society and the authorities reacted in a specific way to the anticipated “forcible modernization”.
The present study investigates the discourse regarding the introduction of civil marriage from the Transylvanian press of the years 1893, 1894, 1895 (I am referring to a series of newspapers and periodicals such as Foaia Poporului, Gazeta de Transilvania, Telegraful român, Unirea, Familia, Minerva, Vulturul, Calicul etc.), analyzed on the basis of studies written on this issue and archival materials. Three interpretative levels are suggested: primary level – the official discourse of civil authorities regarding the necessity of these laws –, secondary level – the resistance of the clergy against the introduction of civil marriage seen as a measure with serious moral consequences – and the third level intending to analyze the public opinion and the attitude of Transylvanian people towards civil laws from the end of the 19th century.
All these categories of sources and the interpretative levels aim to diagnose and analyze the attitudes for or against (as well as the arguments used by both sides) the introduction of civil marriage as a modernizing factor of the Transylvanian society at the end of the 19th century.
