Following a brief explanation of canon law the first section provides an outline of the sources for marriage litigations in the archduchy Austria below the Enns. It will highlight the possibilities and limitations the protocols of the consistories offer. The second section provides insights into the variety of marriage litigations made possible at early modern ecclesiastical courts, as well as quantitative trends. Based on a case study the third section provides deepened insight into the various contexts motivating women and men to sue their spouse. Between 1765 and 1781 Magdalena Pürckin and Peter Pürck conducted 13 proceedings, some initiated by the wife, some by the husband. The analytical focus is directed to the particular interest of the plaintiff and the defendant respectively as well as their discursive strategies to get a verdict in his or her own favor. The summary argues that the catholic marriage politics generates the various proceedings the ecclesiastical courts are dealing with. Nevertheless the persistence Peter Pürck in suing his wife for cohabitation and Magdalena Pürckin's resistance is exceptional. The article is based on long standing research on churchly marriage jurisdiction in the archduchy Austria below the Enns, financed by the Austria Research Fund and backed by the University of Vienna between October 2011 and October 2015. 2015 2015 CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 AT http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/at/ Ausweg und Sackgasse zugleich: Eheverfahren vor katholischen Konsistorien von der Mitte des 16. bis ins ausgehende 18. Jahrhundert application/pdf Griesebner, Andrea article hdl:11353/10.429779 https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:429779 Frühneuzeit-Info 26, 63-76 (2015) Ehesachen, Eherecht, Geschlecht, Scheidung, Trennung, Geschichte, Kirchengericht, Wien, Passau deu