"Philip, landgrave of Hesse, in addition to Christina, the daughter of the late duke George, to whom he had been united many years, and by whom he had a large family, married on March 3, 1540, a lady named Margaret de Sala, and this with the consent of the landgravine under her own hand and seal. Previous to this he sought to obtain the sanction of Luther, Melanchthon, and Bucer, whose want of firmness in this painful case has called forth the most violent invectives from Vorillas and Bossuet, bishop of Meaux."--_Ibid._, 666, note.] [Footnote 226: Mal. 2:15, 16, which in the James version is given: "Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment," etc. It may be noted that MILTON, "Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce," _Prose Works_, III, 196, following "Calvin and the best translations," renders the passage from Malachi, "he who hates, let him divorce," thus agreeing essentially with Bucer.] [Footnote 227: BUCER, in MILTON, _Prose Works_, III, 297. _Cf._ JEAFFRESON, _Brides and Bridals_, II, 329-32, who believes that these sentiments of Bucer, however shocking to us, were accepted by the most "virtuous and devout" in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.] But positive evidence of the views of the Reformation Fathers has been preserved for the time of Edward VI. Under Henry VIII. the principles of the canon law touching divorce remained in full force, except that by restricting the number of forbidden degrees to those recognized by the Levitical code, and through the abolition of pre-contracts, the chances for escaping the ties of marriage by crooked ways were somewhat lessened.[228] The restoration of pre-contracts[229] under Edward VI., however, caused the reformers to fear lest the old evils growing out of clandestine unions and nullification of false wedlock on the pretext of previous _sponsalia de praesenti_ would also be revived; and this quickened their desire for a formal settlement of the law of divorce in harmony with the altered views of the English church. Accordingly, an act of Parliament authorized the appointment of a commission of thirty-two persons to prepare a "complete code of ecclesiastical laws."[230] The commission selected in pursuance of this statute comprised the most learned divines and lawyers of the Protestant party. Their task was well performed; and their report, drafted mainly by Cranmer and translated into Latin by Dr. Haddon and Sir John Cheke, was submitted in 1552 under the title of _Reformatio Legum Ecclesiasticarum_.[231] [Footnote 228: By 32 H. VIII, c. 38. _Cf._ REEVES, _Hist. of Eng. Law_, IV, 333-36; GLASSON, _Hist. du droit_, V, 89.