St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1884-07-06
LEFT-HANDED MARRIAGES.
The Love Ronlances of the Royal Fam
lilies of the Old World.

Stories of Morganatic Marriages, interviewer
With Secrets of Statecraft-The Loves
Ofthe English Georges-ROmance
of the Archduke john of Aus
tria-Happy Union Of Peers
and Peasants.
Chicago Inter-Ocean.
The recent morganatic marriage of Prince
Louis of Hesse, and the efforts made by the
Queen of England and others, to annul the
union, have naturally aroused some general
interest in the left-handed marriages OF
kings and princes, ceremonies which, 1t
must be admitted, have not always been at
tended by circumstances rejecting credit on
the gentlemen taking part in them. 1t will
be seen, from definition of morganatic
| marriage that the name can only properly
be applied to unions wherein the husband is
of royal lineage and the wife is not. The
marriage OF royal ladies with subjects does
not follow the rule of the inter-marriage OF
| ranks everywhere. .. e., the superior rank OF
the wife in no degree raises that of her hus-
band. Thus, though plain baron may wed
duchess, he does not therefore, become a
duke, but remains baron till death, and
his children can only claim the humble title.
But the bride of a duke is always entitled to
the duchess's coronet, though previous to her
marriage she may have been the daughter OF
but d hod-carrer. And the only exception
to the rule which renders a legally welded
wife, by the marriage contract, her husbands
equal in rank is found in
THE MoRGANTIC MARRIAGE,
which originated among the German princes
of the tenth century, its idea being borrowed,
however, from a secondary custom of the
Romans.
There were three forms of marriage coun-
tenanced in ancient Rome. First, the con-
.tdnreato, which was both a civil and a re-
ligious contract. and conveyed full right OF
inheritance of the parents rank and wealth
to the children. The second form was the
coenatio, which was civil contract only,
binding on both bartes, but not of itself CIV
ing to the children any claim upon the pater-
nal estate. The third form was the aasaes, toll
Grated among the lower classes, but not re-
garded as respectable, for which no cere-
mony was required if the parties had lived
together for twelve months.
After the fall OF Rome. when her customs
became diffused among the European
nations, the c0nTidyTeCttio was the form of
marriage generally adopted, but the coentio
was taken up among the Lombards, and la
ter in the Teutonic empire north Of the
Alps 1t got quite into fashion among the
princes Of the German petty states, no doubt
| because it served in measure to counteract
| the effects of the Salic law, which excluded
| females from the succession, and of the alb
sence OF a law of primogeniture, which
might have prevented the threatened extinc-
| ton of the small municipalities by subdivis-
! ion among the heirs thereof. Therefore, in
the case of large family of princes but one
could really afford to wed in his own rank, a
fact recognized by the seven sons of William
of Notwithstanding, who i'll 1890 drew
lots as to who should take royal consort.
THE LOT FELL UPON GEORGE,
the sixth son, who welded daughter of
neighboring Prince, while his brothers had
their choice of the fairest danes among their
subjects.
The name given to this form of marriage
was nlditrN107ti115 dd DlOYgd3lutjcDa, the latter
word wasltallen from the mao?ge5tgttlae, or morn
ing Gift, dowry by ancient custom given to
to the bride, usually by the bridegroom on
the morning after the nuptials correspond
ing to the marriage settlements of later civ
iliZation), the implication being that the wife
must expect nothing more from her husband
than the gilt conferred.
Custom in time become law, so this prac-
tice brought into existence rough
code Of matrimony, in which mar
rage of princes to ladies of low
er ranks in other than morganatic form
was held to be punishable with seYerest pen
alties, penalties usually visited on the more
innocent party, his wife. Thus in 1416 Duke
Ernest of Bavaria had a beautiful girl, Agnes
Bernane, put to death for marrying his son,
Albert. The cruelty and injustice of this
code affected the morals of the kings, so that
some came to think that they might contract
a morganatic marriage over and above one
in their own station. Philip Landgrave OF
Hesse. one of the champions of the Reforma-
ton, contracted a second marriage Of this
kind during the lifetime of his lawful wife
After becoming Protestant his scruples
were aroused on the subject of retaining
Mrs. Philip No 2 aud he consulted Luther
Melancthon and others about it. The reply OF
these
FATHERS OF THE CAURCH
is curious document. They demurred a
little at the marriage, saying that they ''could
not advise that the license of marrying more
wives than one be publicly introduced and,
as it were, ratified by law,'' since this would
''cause excessive scandal,' yet, for the sake
of sparing his highness' feelings no doubt
they admitted that There was room for dis
pensation - that they would not condemn
prince who should thus take second wife
but would advise s'that the marriage should
take place secretly so that no scandal MAY
arise" So Philip kept his two wives, anC
others followed his example. but the custom
did not meet with general approval, ever
among the princes. In 1879 Charles Lud
wig, elector of Pafatine, the brother of Prince
Rupert though already welded to the Prin
cess Charlotte of Hesse, fell violently in love
with beautiful maid Of honor, Marie Won
Dagenfield, and resolved to marry her in
left-handed fashion. He did so, according tC
the forms of the church, in spite OF the pro
tests of the court. The fair Marie had four
teen children. nearly all boys. who became
well known rs counts of the Paatinate
Several OF them were soldiers of fortune
and won some military repute in other
kingdoms, but the sons of Princess Charlotte
succeeded to the throne. And though NOR
ganatic marriages have continued to Tourist
in Germany this one Was the last involving
the act of bigamy.
In more than one instance prince, con
tracing a morganatic marriage, has desired
for the sake Of his children to have it recog
nized as equal with a union in his own ranks
King Emanuel, of Portugal, who died in 1880
willed his kingdom to q son by morganatit
wife, but the council would not recognize thu
Young man as heir. More strenuous efforts
were made by the Prince of SaxeMeiningen
to Elizabeth Schurman, beautiful, gifted
and most amiable lady. Becoming daily
more attached to her. the prince wished tc
make her his full consort and petitioned the
Emperor Charles VI. to give her the title Of
princess and confer the right of succession