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Piketty:More generally, the Church sought to limit the ability of family groups to concentrate control over property (for instance, by forbidding mar-
That’s a lot there.
riages between cousins, albeit with limited success, since cousin marriage has always been a convenient matrimonial and patrimonial strategy for wealthy families in all civilizations—yet another sign of the radicalism of the Catholic Church’s political project). In each instance the goal was to consolidate the position of the Church Vis—a—Vis family dynasties whose wealth and political influence it saw as a challenge to its authority.