Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

law and society 401
(attested for the first time in Rome in 432/40). 30 Concordia pronuba, the
goddess traditionally invoked to foster the harmony of the couple, was
replaced by Iesus pronubus. 31 The Christianization of the betrothal and
wedding may also have had an impact on marriage in two other respects:
by orienting the couple’s subsequent behaviour; and by involving the community
of the faithful, whose sentiments could in turn exert pressure on
the couple. In reply to a query raised by a Spanish bishop, pope Siricius recommended
taking every possible step to prevent betrothals from being dissolved:
‘when the blessing given by the priest to her who is about to marry
is violated by a transgression, the faithful feel that there is sacrilege’. 32
Siricius, however, was judging from a Roman point of view, and his opinion
cannot be generalized. In fact, the persistence at a popular level of pagan
ritual was such that it survived long after the full Christianization of the
wedding ceremony. So while the bishops and councils of the fourth
century inveighed against the faithful who celebrated their marriages
according to lascivious pagan customs, 33 in the Carolingian age we still find
a bishop cautioning his clergy against taking part in wedding festivities
(which he likened to the frequenting of taverns and other base entertainments).
34
As for written contracts, these could not exceed limits fixed by economic
constraints. A law promulgated by Justinian in 538 laid down,
among other things, the formal requisites for stipulating a legitimate marriage,
which varied according to the social standing of the couple and the
amount of property involved. Members of the higher ranks of society
were expected to perform all the duties consonant with their position, particularly
those regarding betrothal gifts and the dowry. Public officials,
merchants and those engaged in respectable activities had the option of
avoiding such complex procedures, but were required to sign a contract
before the ekdikos of a church in the presence of at least three clerics.The
document could be preserved in the church archives. Those who led very
base lives and belonged to the lowest ranks of urban society (even if they
may have been moderately well-off) were absolved from drawing up a
written document. Also exempt were peasants and soldiers – a category
30 The requisites indicated in 458/9 by pope Leo, Ep. 167.4, PL liv.1204f. – i.e. the free condition
of both spouses, the dowry and the public wedding – were not, as is usually assumed (see, for example,
Orestano (1951) 297f.), needed for any legitimate marriage, but only to define the passage from concubinage
with a woman of lower rank to legitimate matrimony. The dowry was indicated as a condition
of legitimate matrimony by Majorian in 458 (Nov. 6.9), but the measure was short-lived (Sev. Nov. 1,of
463). For the later developments, see Lemaire (1929).
31 Paul. Nol. Carm. 25.151f.; for the same transformation in Byzantine art, see Kantorowicz (1960)
7ff.
32 Siricius, Ep. 4, PL lxxxiv.632; Siricius meant that the marriage blessing was contaminated because
the nuptura had violated a former engagement: Anné (1941) 131; for later developments, with particu-
33 lar reference to the west, see now Vogel (1977). Ritzer (1981) 94ff., 130ff.
34 PL cxix.712f.; see Toubert (1977) 274.
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