ch
was felt more or less in all, but especially in the case of the
Visigoths; as was natural, since this people had been brought into
closest touch with Rome. Inasmuch as the barbarians allowed all peoples
conquered by them to be tried under their own laws, the old Roman civil
law was still potent in all its strength in cases affecting a Roman. Let
us endeavour to glean what we can from the barbarian codes on the matter
of women's rights.

[Sidenote: Guardianship.]

The woman was always to be under guardianship among the Germanic peoples
and could never be independent under any conditions. Perhaps we should
rather call the power (_mundium_) wielded by father, brother, husband,
or other male relative a protectorate; for in those early days among
rude peoples any legal action might involve fighting to prove the merits
of one's case, and the woman would therefore constantly need a champion
to assert her rights in the lists. Thus the woman was under the
perpetual guardianship of a male relative and must do nothing without
his consent, under penalty of losing her property.[304] Her guardian
arranged her marriage for her as he wished, provided only that he chose
a free man for her husband[305]; if the woman, whether virgin or widow,
married without his consent, she lost all power to inherit the goods of
her relatives[306]; and her husband was forced to pay to her kin a
recompense amounting to 600 _solidi_ among the Saxons, 186 among the
Burgundians.[307]

[Sidenote: Marriage.]

The feeling of caste was very strong; a woman must not marry below her
station.[308] By a law of the Visigoths she who tried to marry her own
slave was to be burned alive[309]; if she attempted it with another's
bondman, she merited one hundred lashes.[310] The dowry was a fixed
institution as among the Romans; but the bridegroom regularly paid a
large sum to the father or guardian of the woman. This _wittemon_ was
regarded as the price paid for the parental authority (_mundium_) and
amounted among the Saxons to 300 _solidi_.[311] As a matter of fact this
custom practically amounted to the intended husband giving the dowry to
his future wife. The husband was also allowed to present his wife with a
donation (_morgengabe_) on the morning after the wedding; the amount
was limited by King Liutprand to not more than one fourth of all his
goods.[312] Breaking an engagement after the solemn betrothal had been
entered into was a serious business. The Visi