A History of Matrimonial Institutions, Vol. 1 of 3

by George Elliott Howard

[637] It is so regarded by Sohm, Institutes of Roman Law, 361 n. 3; by Westermarck, op. cit., 397; Schrader, op. cit., 382. Rossbach, Die römische Ehe, 65 ff., 93, 145, 245 ff., holds that there was one original form from which both coemptio and confarreatio were derived, and that it combined purchase with religious elements. Karlowa, Die Formen der röm. Ehe, 1 ff., 45., criticises Rossbach and holds that it remains to be proved that coemptio is a survival of real purchase, it being more likely a particular use of mancipatio arising perhaps under Servius Tullius; but Leist, op. cit., 128 ff., rejects this view and favors the theory of survival. Lange, Römische Alterthümer, I, 105, 106; and Bernhöft, Römische Königszeit, 186, are in practical agreement with Karlowa. Cf. Poste, Gaius, 89 ff.; Muirhead, Private Law of Rome, 441-43, who rejects the theory of survival; Letourneau, L'évolution du mariage, 149, 150; Monlezun, Femme mariée, 28-30.

[638] See Lubbock, Origin of Civilization, 74, who compares usus and coemptio. Cf. Poste, Gaius, I, § 111, p. 88; Letourneau, op. cit., 150.

[639] Herodotus, v, 6: Rawlinson, III, 180.

[640] Krauss, Sitte und Brauch der Südslaven, 272, 275; Kovalevsky, Mod. Customs and Anc. Laws of Russia, 26 ff. It existed among the Russians, Bohemians, and Pomeranians: Westermarck, op. cit., 397 n. 6, and the authorities there cited; but Turner, Slavisches Familienrecht, 16 ff., 22, denies the former existence of purchase.

[641] Herodotus, i, 196: Rawlinson, I, 262, 263.

[642] Kohler, "Der Mädchenmarkt auf dem Gainaberg," ZVR., VI, 398-400. The bride-price was represented by the presents tendered by the wooer. "Einst brachten die Eltern ihre heirathsfähigen Töchter (fetele) sammt der Mitgift auf den Berg, wo die Männer, die petitori, um sie warben; die Mädchen sassen dabei auf ihrer Mitgift oder standen hinter derselben. Der Kauflustige bot Geschenke und wurde mit den Eltern einig; der Frauenkauf war bereits ins donatorische Stadium getreten." Kohler finds, in certain customs connected with the market, relics of promiscuity and wife-capture.

[643] "Der Vater erhielt das volle Coibche bei der ersten Ehe der Tochter, bei der zweiten ²⁄₃, bei der dritten ¹⁄₂, und so fort bis zu ¹⁄₂₁; der Rest scheint der Tochter zugefallen zu sein; eine weitere verhältnissmässige Gabe, welche ebenfalls nach Anzahl der Ehen sich verkleinerte, kam dem Haupte der Familie zu."—Kohler, in ZVR., V, 363; O'Curry, Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish; Sullivan, Int., I, clxxiii ff.; Ancient Laws of Ireland, III, 315.

[644] Kohler, in ZVR., V, 363, 364; Ancient Laws of Ireland, III, 401, 405, 541-45. In the early laws of Wales the cowyll corresponds to the Irish coibche, but it is already transformed into a dotal portion: Kohler, op. cit., 365, 366.

[645] Post, Familienrecht, 158; Afrikanische Jurisprudenz, I, 377, 378, where will be found examples of peoples among whom free betrothal exists.

[646] Westermarck, Human Marriage, chaps. vii-xiii, inclusive.