Marriage and the family are recurring ideas. Martin Guerre and Bertrande de Rols live in a changing world. For a long time there was only the Catholic Church, which does not allow divorce and remarriage. Now, for the last few years, Protestantism has appeared. In Geneva, not very far away, divorces are granted to women that are abandoned by their husbands. The author speculates to what degree the new Protestantism affects the case of the return of Martin Guerre. This is largely speculation by the author, but also with some evidence. Both of the authors of books about the Martin Guerre case are men who become Protestants. One of them, Jean de Coras is a judge in the case in Toulouse who is later is lynched by a Catholic mob.