Emperor Justinian’s Novel 74 and its Importance for European Marriage Law
Emperor Justinian’s Novel 74 and its Importance for European Marriage Law

Summary/Abstract: A careful examination of the text of the Imperial Constitution promulgated byEmperor Justinian in 530 has given us the possibility of fi nding out that the lastroman Emperor was constantly concerned with protecting the vulnerable interests ofwomen and children, whom he recognized, in fact, as “legitimate” even if they wereborn within a marriage with a “concubine”.Justinian stipulated, in this Imperial Constitution, that a “marriage” (matrimonium)is “iusta” (legal) only if it is concluded in accordance with the constitutionalprovisions of that time, that is, with the consent of “pater familias”, except if hesuffers from “madness”, the consent of the future spouses, the existence of a dowry,the conclusion of a marriage contract, and, fi nally, the performance of the HolySacrament of Marriage. This confi rms to us, in a peremptory way obviously, the factthat, “in illo tempore”, the religious, Christian marriage had already a well-defi nedlegal status.

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