Consanguinity, literally meaning common blood, describes how close a person is related to another in the sense of a family. It is illustrated with a consanguinity chart (or table), as seen below. A family of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in 1997 A family is a domestic group of people, or a number of domestic groups, typically affiliated by birth or marriage, or by comparable legal relationships including domestic partnership, adoption, surname and in some cases ownership (as was the case in the Roman...

Consanguinity is expressed as degree of consanguinity, which can be defined in several ways. In general, the lower the degree of consanguinity between two persons is, the closer they are related, and thus the higher the level of consanguinity (be careful to distinguish degree and level). The commonest definition is the modern civil law one, which increases by 1 with each step up or down along the shortest path from one person to another in a family tree. For example, parent-child relationships are one degree apart and brothers or sisters two degrees -- one step up to the common parent, another back down to the other sibling. This is also the definition used in Roman law. A family tree is generally the totality of ones ancestors, or specifically, a chart used in genealogy to show the family connections between individuals, consisting of the individuals names (usually accompanied by dates, and often also places and occupations) connected by various types of line representing marriages, extra-marital...

Various other definitions of degrees of consanguinity have been used at different times in canon law. In Western culture, canon law is the law of the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. ...

In general, the lower the number of degrees of consanguinity, the higher the risk of inbreeding. There is a degree of consaguinity below which most cultures regard sexual relationships between two persons as incest and forbid their marriage. Inbreeding is breeding between close relatives. ... Incest is the sexual activity or marriage between very close family members (and sometimes friends in some societies). ...

In the Catholic Church, a marriage with a direct line relative or collateral relative to the fourth degree is grounds for an annulment. In other words, marrying a 1st cousin (4th degree) or a grand nephew/niece (4th degree) is not allowed, but marrying a 1st cousin once removed (5th degree) is. Download high resolution version (878x154, 38 KB)Consanguinity Chart Created this very simple but needed chart for the Consanguinity article. ... The Roman Catholic Church believes its founding was based on Jesus appointment of Saint Peter as the primary church leader, later Bishop of Rome. ... Marriage is a legal, social, and religious relationship between individuals which has formed the foundation of the family for most societies. ... Annulment is a legal procedure for declaring a marriage null and void. ... This article is about the domestic group. ... A cousin chart identifies the correct name for the relationship between two people with a common ancestor. ...

Given that most of them were and still are in-bred to one degree or another, European nobilities often invoke consanguinuity as a convenient means of divorce, especially in ages when religious doctrine forbade the voluntary dissolution of a failed marriage. Inbreeding is breeding between close relatives. ... Divorce or dissolution of marriage is the ending of a marriage, which can be contrasted with an annulment which is a declaration that a marriage is void, though the effects of marriage may be recognized in such unions, such as spousal support, child custody and distribution of property. ...

The succession law known as consanguinity, requires the next monarch to be of the same blood of the previous one; allowing, for example, illegitimate children to inherit. Succession is the act or process of following in order or sequence. ... A monarch is a type of ruler or head of state, whose titles and ascent are often inherited, not earned, and who represents a larger monarchical system which has established rules and customs regarding succession, duties, and powers. ... Illegitimacy was a term in common usage for the condition of being born of parents who are not validly married to one another; the legal term is bastardy. ...

To be covered:

• Lineal consanguinity
• Collateral consanguinity
• Coefficient of consanguinity

See also

• Bloodline
• Blood relative
• Inbreeding
• Mendelian inheritance
• Outbreeding
• Pedigree collapse
• Cousin chart

For the scientific journal Heredity see Heredity (journal) Heredity (the adjective is hereditary) is the transfer of characters from parent to offspring, either through their genes or through the social institution called inheritance (for example, a title of nobility is passed from individual to individual according to relevant customs and... Inbreeding is breeding between close relatives. ... Mendelian inheritance (or Mendelian genetics or Mendelism) is a set of primary tenets that underlie much of genetics developed by Gregor Mendel in the latter part of the 19th century. ... Pedigree collapse is a term created by Robert C. Gunderson to denominate the collapse of the family trees caused either by close cousin marriages or distant cousins unknowingly getting married. ... The term cousin typically refers to the child of ones parents sibling. ...

External links

• Consanguinity chart showing different schemes for calculating degree of consangunity
• Catholic Encyclopedia article on consangunity
• Mathematics of the coefficient of consanguinity
• Genetic consanguinity