John Milton (1608–1674) The doctrine & discipline of divorce: restor’d to the good of both sexes, from the bondage of canon law, and other mistakes, to Christian freedom, guided by the Rule of Charity ... (London, 1643). Ee.3.11, title page.
The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce (1643) was written in direct response to Milton’s experience of his marriage breaking down. His series of four divorce tracts was sparked by his desertion at the hands of his new bride, Mary Powell. Given that the granting of a divorce was officially the sole prerogative of parliament, most unhappily married people could only hope that the ecclesiastical courts would give them a separation, without the option of remarrying. Still, the grounds for divorce afforded under canon law were extremely narrow. Milton argued that a couple should be permitted to divorce on the basis of intellectual incompatibility, rather than simply physical infidelity.