The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1864-07-22
MORGANATIC MARRIAGES.
An Explanation of the Practice.

Morganatic marriages are of very old
orig!n-so old, in fact, that the very mean
ing of tie wOrl his been lost. The term
i. commonly explained as derived from the
German word " Moryea-gabe," a morning
gltt, the elucidatirn being that the lus-
band gave to his mnrganatio bride pres
ent The day after the nuptials, instead of
making ner the partner of his whole fr
tune on the marriage itself But this ex
PLANTATION il evidently somewhat far.
fetche!, besides being qnite devoid of his
torical proof Certain il is that the word
is of Lombard growth; for the expression
matrin0niG 0d legem DsOrgIa0ticun,
controctn," is frequently to be met wirl in
the documents of North Italian families,
long before it came into use in Germany
The thing itself is clearly of Roman origin,
being nothing else than a revival OF the
coenatio, in ia :Lin among the cOnquerors
of the worl- 1t is well known that the
ancient Romans had three forms of mar
rage-the confiTrentiO, the cOen,tio, and
the usms. The first, civil az well as re-
ligiOus contract, was concluded before a
priest and ten witnesses, and conferred on
the offspring the rights and hOnoys Of
pntrini ct nadtrimi; while the second was
mere civil engagement with far lesser
privileges to the children; and the third
constituted but a civil partnership sane
toned by nothing else bnt the legal proof
of twelve months uninterrupted cohabita.
ton. The revival of the usus the Roman
Catholic Church could not possibly allow,
even to the princes in the feudal ages but
priests winked at the introduction of the
coe'ntiO among the great ones of the world,
and this form of marriage in consequence,
soon became highly fashionable among
lords and princes. In the fifteenth and six
teenth centuries the SO called mOrganatic
marriages were exceedingly numerous
among the great ba'ons, dukes and
margraves Of Germany, and notable so
far as they hal to fulfill an i'm ortant
political purpose. The ab. ence of law of
primogenitnre in nearly all the fefs of the
Holy Roman Empire made it necessary
that some means should be devised to
check tie too great division of territories,
and there seemed nothing readier that the
n'ntrimonia at legem mOrgannticum con-
tracta. An Instance of the application of
this remedy exists in the case of the de-
scendants of Duke VIII lam OF Brunswick
Lnneburg, one of tho ancestors of Queen
Victoria, who died in 1890. He left seven
sons. among whom, according to custom,
the very moderate sized duchy was to he
divided. But the sons, as usual, quar-
relied in the division, and, afier some pre-
lifninary lighting, ended with the agres-
m-nt that one of the seven should be tho
heir Of all the territory, and perpetuate
the family, and the rest should take refuge
in morganatic alliances. Chance was to
decide the Question Of succession, aud The
seven sons of Duke William drew lois &C.
cOrdingly. The great prize fell to the
sixth son, Prince George, who at once
took possession Of the duchy and married
au ilu~triOus princess of the house of SIX
Ony. The eldest of the seven brG thers re-
mained bachelor all his life, and The 9th.
ers went into the war, with the exception
of the fourth, Prince Frede lex, who
wooed and won the daughter of his pri-
vate secretary-"a pearl OF sweet blessed
beauty" say the quaint old historians
and outlived all hi. brothers in fourscO'e
yeas OF happy existence. The descend
ants of the inorganatic alliance o. Prince
frederick f.uri-h to this day in Germany
as BarOns Won Lnneturg.
The political importance of these mo-
ganatlc marriages engendered early code
o' laws respecting them, which has re-
manned IN force to the present day. Ac-
cording 10 these statutes as first laid down,
Only independent princes and lords, or
more correctly Princes aud lords holding
directly OF the Holy Roman Empire, AMI
VIII, no other sovereign above them hut
tlie User. were allowed to contract NOR
gana'ic marriages Al these lords though
of widely diife ent rank and fortune were
heli to be ebenb~rtig, or upon All equali.y
OF blood, and the rest OF mankind were