- Manus Marriage (manus = hand)
+ Its nature
By this form of marriage, a woman was transferred from her family to the family of her husband and was said to be "in his hand" (in manum viri).
+ Manus Marriage: Its modes
. Confarreatio (far = spelt cake)
This ceremony was confined to the patricians. Spelt bread was used in a sacrificial ceremony to Jupiter, which took place in the presence of the flamen Dialis (a high priest) and ten witnesses.
. Coemptio
By a type of mancipation, power over the woman was transferred to the husband in return for a symbolic payment by the paterfamilias in the presence of five witnesses.
. Usus
No special ceremony was held and cohabitation for one year sufficed to bring the wife under the manus of her husband.
+ Manus Marriage: Its efects
The wife came under the potestas of the head of her husband's family. Her property passed to her husband and any property acquired thereafter also passed to him. A husband was responsible for his wife's obligations to the extent of her property. Having passed into the manus of her husband, her position approximated to that of his daughter; if her husband was in the power of his father she stood in the relationship of a grand-daughter to the father.
Note:
In the case of usus, a wife who stayed away from her husband for three consecutive nights (trinoctii absentia) did not pass under his manus, according to the law of the XII Tables.
These modes of marriage had disappeared by the end of the second century A.D.
- Free Marriage
+ Its nature
A valid marriage could be made without any ceremony where the essentials of marriage existed.
+ Free Marriage: Its modes
No specific mode was necessary.
+ Free Marriage: Its effects
The wife did not pass into the manus of her husband. In the absence of dos, she had no rights to maintenance by her husband, but her property remained her own.
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- Marriage and Roman Law
+ Marriage (I): Its nature
+ Marriage (II): Sponsalia
+ Marriage (III): Its requisites
+ Marriage (IV): Laws of Augustus
+ Marriage (VI): Concubinage
+ Marriage (VII): Dissolution of marriage
+ Marriage (VIII): Matrimonial property
+ Marriage (IX): Children
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Source:
Roman Law, L. B. Curzon, pages 42 - 43.
