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The Roman Influence on the Medieval Family - Page 2

© Rachelle Hughes

A few of the major contributions of the Roman family to the Medieval family.: Paterfamilias -- The male head of the family (which included wife, children, slaves, etc. living in a household) held a position akin to an absolute monarch. He oversaw religious observances, discipline and family work. "His authority extended to life-and-death-decisions." (Gies, and Gies 19). Legally a paterfamilia could order the death of his wife for adultery, sell a disobedient daughter into a slavery, or disown his own son. While these events rarely would have occurred, it does show how powerful the paterfamilia was. When a woman was married "confarreatio" (the strictest and most ancient form of marriage practiced by patrician Romans only) she passed directly from the paterfamilia of her father to that of her husband. We can see the echos of the paterfamilias structure in that of the patriarchal family of the early Middle Ages.

Dowery -- The dowery arrangements practiced between the landed and merchant citizens of Rome were practiced throughout Europe for centuries. Along with a women's social and familial status, her dowery played an enormous role in choice of a marriage partner. Marriages were often arranged without notifying the daughter or even the son of an alliance. But in the end, "consent" was required to make the marriage legal

Marriage Ceremony -- The Roman marriage and betrothal was generally a private affair that occurred at a home with few witnesses and generally no religious leader. This practice of marrying without a member of the priesthood carried on into the early Middle Ages. This was a point of contention that the Catholic Church faced as it struggled to bring all of Europe under the power of the Church. In the third century B.C. the marriage custom "sine manu" was established. In this type of a marriage the bride retained membership in her father's familia. Thus she kept her inheritance rights as a daughter and gained a position of more independence.

Partible Inheritance -- At the death of the paterfamilia, the inheritance was divided equally among all heirs. This form of inheritance was practiced in several European countries. Consanguitity relationships -- The Roman system of computing relationships counted back from one of the spouses to their common ancestor and then forward to the other spouse. If the potential spouses were not related in the fourth degree they could marry. Therefore, a person could not marry their grandparents, uncles, aunts, niece or nephew, or first cousin. Over time this rule was relaxed and by the time Emperor Claudius reigned in A.D. 41-54, the Emperor got away with marrying his niece. The Catholic Church adopted the Roman's fourth degree rule in the Medieval Ages.

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