MORGANATIC MARRIAGE

This article appears in Volume V18, Page 835 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: MOL-MOS

MORGANATIC MARRIAGE , a form of

marriage

MARRIAGE

properly peculiar to the German peoples, but also found in the royal families of other European countries. It is one in which the contracting parties are not by

birth

BIRTH (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages from the root of the verb " to bear ")

of equal status or rank (ebenburtig), and under which the wife, if not ebenbilrtig, does not take the rank of her husband, and the children, whether it be the wife or husband that is of lower rank, have no right of succession to the dignities, fiefs or entailed property of the parent of higher rank. This equality by

birth

BIRTH (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages from the root of the verb " to bear ")

was formerly throughout Germany the necessary

condition

CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

to a complete and perfect

marriage

MARRIAGE

, but it is now only applicable to members of reigning houses or of the higher

nobility

NOBILITY

(hoher Adel), and it is thus of force among the " mediatized " princes of the German Empire. In the constitution of the various states, and in the "

house

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

laws

LAWS

" (Hausgesetze) of the reigning families, the rules are laid down as to what constitutes ebenburtigkeit. Generally it may be said that members of a present or former reigning

house

HOUSE
HOUSE (O. Eng. hiss, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dut. huis, Ger. Haus; in
Gothic
- GOTHIC
it is only found in gudhiss, a temple; it may be ultimately connected with the root of " hide," conceal)

, either in Germany or Europe, would be recognized as ebenburtig, but a former morganatic marriage would be taken as destroying the qualification. In

Great

GREAT

Britain the regulations as to the marriages of members of the royal family are contained in the Royal Marriage Act 1772 (see MARRIAGE). The term " morganatic marriage " is applied generally to any marriage of a person of royal blood with one of inferior rank. The origin of the term, in medieval Latin matrimonium ad morganaticam, is usually taken to refer to the Morgengabe, i.e. the morning

gift

GIFT (a common Teutonic word, cf. Ger. die Gift, gift, das Gift, poison, formed from the Teut. stem gab-, to give, cf. Dutch geven, Ger. geben; in O. Eng. the word appears with initial y, the guttural of later English is due to Scandinavian influence)

, made by a husband. to his wife on marriage. The German name is Ehe zur linken Hand (marriage by the left hand, whence the phrase a " left-handed marriage "), the husband of such marriage cercmonies giving the left instead of the right hand to the

bride

BRIDE (a common Teutonic word, e.g..Goth. bruths, O. Eng. bryd, O. H. Ger. prs2t, Mod. Ger. Bract, Dut. bruid, possibly derived from the root bru-, cook, brew; from the med. latinized form bruta, in the sense of daughter-in-law, is derived the Fr. bru)

. Such marriages are recognized as fully binding by the Church, and the children are legitimate, and no other marriage can take place during the lifetime of the contracting parties.

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