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03/13/04:
Scott Hiaasen - Plain Dealer Reporter
In the year 860, a king named Lothair
II sought a divorce from his wife,
Theutberga. Her marital transgressions,
according to the king, included incest
and sorcery. Theutberga denied the
charges and demanded a trial by ordeal.
A stand-in jumped into a kettle of
boiling water and emerged unscathed,
proving Theutberga's innocence.
Nothing so dramatic awaits Marie Macfarlane, a 41-year-old mother of four from
Westlake. But a trial is what she wants.
Her husband, William "Bud" Macfarlane, has filed for divorce, accusing his wife
of "extreme cruelty" and "gross neglect of duty" - a brutal legalese that she
says cannot describe her marriage. So Marie, a devout Catholic, is taking a stand
not often seen today: She's fighting to stop the divorce altogether.
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