Definition
**Monii** (also rendered *a mensa et monii* in some historical sources, though more likely a scribal or typographic corruption) appears in Bouvier's Law Dictionary as a term for an absolute divorce — a divorce from the bond of marriage itself. As Bouvier defines it, monii denotes a total dissolution of the marriage tie, releasing both husband and wife completely from their matrimonial obligations. This stands in contrast to a divorce *a mensa et thoro* (from bed and board), which was a judicial separation that left the marriage bond intact.
The term as it appears in the Bouvier entry is almost certainly a corruption or abbreviation of the Latin *thoro* (from *torus*, meaning bed or couch), making the full phrase *a mensa et thoro* — but cropped or corrupted to appear as *monii* in transcription. The substantive legal concept it represents, however, is well established: a full, absolute divorce terminating the marriage contract entirely, as distinguished from a mere separation.
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Common Confusion
**Monii vs. A Mensa et Thoro.** These two concepts represent the two historic poles of matrimonial dissolution. A divorce *a mensa et thoro* (from bed and board) was a partial remedy — the parties lived separately, but the marriage itself survived. Neither party could remarry. A full divorce *a vinculo matrimonii* (from the bond of matrimony) — the concept represented under *monii* in Bouvier — dissolved the marriage entirely, permitting remarriage. Researchers encountering *monii* in historical documents should treat it as shorthand for the absolute form of divorce, not the separation-only remedy.
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Why It Matters in Research
This term is a research hazard precisely because of its corrupted form. Researchers encountering *monii* in digitized or transcribed legal texts should immediately suspect either a typographical error in the source or an abbreviated rendering of a longer Latin phrase. The substantive law the term represents — absolute divorce from the bond of matrimony — is significant in historical legal research for several reasons:
**Doctrinal stakes.** In pre-modern English and early American law, the distinction between absolute divorce and separation from bed and board carried enormous practical consequences: property rights, inheritance, the right to remarry, and the legitimacy of subsequent children all turned on which form of dissolution had been granted.
**Corpus navigation.** In the Law Mind corpus, searches for *monii* alone will return sparse results. Researchers should cross-search *a vinculo matrimonii*, *divorce from the bond*, *absolute divorce*, and *a mensa et thoro* to capture the full relevant materials. Historical ecclesiastical court records and early American chancery records will use the Latin forms most consistently.
**Historical ecclesiastical jurisdiction.** Under English law, divorce *a vinculo matrimonii* was exceptionally rare before the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857 and was typically obtainable only by private Act of Parliament. Ecclesiastical courts granted *a mensa et thoro* but not full dissolution. This jurisdictional fact shapes what historical sources will and will not contain.
**American divergence.** Early American states moved away from English ecclesiastical practice and granted absolute divorces through civil courts and, eventually, by statute. The Latin terminology persisted in American legal writing well into the nineteenth century even as the procedural framework changed entirely.
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Historical Dictionary Support
Bouvier's entry is brief and points to Blackstone's *Commentaries* (1 Bl. Com. 440) for authority. Blackstone's treatment of matrimonial causes distinguishes clearly between the two historical forms of divorce, grounding the absolute form (*a vinculo matrimonii*) in canonical impediments existing at the time of marriage — such as prior contract, consanguinity, or want of age — rather than post-marriage misconduct. This is a critical doctrinal nuance: in strict historical usage, absolute divorce was a remedy for a void or voidable marriage, not simply a response to adultery or cruelty. Later American statutes expanded the grounds for absolute divorce dramatically, eroding this distinction.
Bouvier does not address the corrupted form *monii* as a standalone term, and no other major historical legal dictionary — Black's, Stroud's, or Tomlin's — appears to use this exact form. Its appearance is most likely an artifact of transcription or typesetting error. Researchers should not rely on *monii* as an established term of art independent of the underlying Latin phrase it abbreviates.
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Jurisdictional Note
The availability and grounds for absolute divorce varied sharply across American jurisdictions through the nineteenth century, with some states permitting only legislative divorce and others establishing broad equitable grounds by statute. English law did not permit civil absolute divorce until the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857. Researchers working across jurisdictions should not assume that identical Latin terminology signals identical legal effect.
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Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See Law Mind Encyclopedia: **Divorce** | **Matrimonial Causes** | **A Vinculo Matrimonii**
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