to her husband, for the sake of having children. There was a singular practice authorized not only in Israel (Deut. xxv.), and anciently in Athens and Sparta, but by the laws of Menu, that a brother should raise up the name of the dead upon his inheritance, obviously a relic of potyandry. In process of time, however, concubinage appears to have degenerated into a regular custom among the Jews ; and the institutions of Moses were directed to prevent excess
and abuse in that respect.The Roman concubinatus differed from justæ nuptiæ in not giving the father the potestas over his children, and from contubernium, which was the concubinage of slaves. It was a permanent monogamous relation, free from some of the restrictions imposed by the civil law upon marriages. Although the married woman had a more dignified position, concubinage was thought the appropriate union for persons of different ranks, as a patronus and liberta. By imperial legislation, naturales liberi and concubines were gradually admitted to limited rights of succession; and the legitimation per subsequens matrimonium completed their status.
Concubinage is also used to signify a marriage with a woman of inferior condition, to whom the husband does not convey his rank. Such concubinage was beneath marriage both as to dignity and civil rights, yet concubine was a re putable title, and very different from that of " mistress " among us. The concubine also might be accused of adultery in the same manner as a wife. By French law the presence of a concubine in the house entitles the wife to a divorce. This kind of concubinage is still in use in some countries, particularly in Germany, under the title of halb- ehe (half-marriage), or left-hand marriage, in allusion to the manner of its being contracted, namely, by the man giving the woman his left hand instead of the right. This is a real marriage, though without the usual solemnity ; and the parties are both bound to each other for ever, though the female cannot bear the husband s name and title. Neither spouse has any right of succession to the other, but the children take a third of the father s estate, if he leaves no lawful children.
Du Cange observes that one may gather from several passages in the epistles of the popes that they anciently allowed of such connections. The seventeenth canon of the first Council of Toledo (400 A.D.) declares that be who with a faithful wife keeps a concubine is excommunicated; but that if the concubine serve him as a wife, so that he has only one woman, under the title of concubine, he shall not be rejected from communion. This applied not only to laymen, but to inferior priests, who were then allowed to marry. The latter councils extend the name concubine to disreputable women not kept in the house. That is.also the meaning of the word in the 8th rubric of the concordat of 1517 between Leo X. and Francis I. The Council of Nicrca refers to a class of secret concubines, superinductæ, and St Augustine denounces all irregular relations.
It is certain the patriarchs had a great number of wives, and that these did not all hold the same rank, some being inferior to the principal wife. Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Q. Curtius observes that Darius was fol lowed in his army by 365 concubines, all in the equipage of queens.
In most Mahometan and other polygamous countries, female slaves are used as concubines and enjoy a cer tain status. Under the ancient Fueros, which succeeded the Lex Visignthorum in Spain, concubinage was recognized by the name of barrayania. The parties entered into a contract (cart a de mancebia e campanera), by which the man took the concubine por todos los dios que yo visquiere, and she received right to bread, table, and knife (a pan, mesa, e cucheUo), Apart from contract, some Fiieros gave the faith ful concubine a rierht of succession to one-half of the man s acquired property. The Council of Valladolid (1228) re proved the barragama of priests. Similarly the Gragas, or ancient law of Iceland, recognized the frilla, or concu bine, alongside of the husfreyia, or lawful wife, though the two were not permitted to dwell in the same house. According to the Danish hand vesten, the concubine who had publicly lived with a man and partaken his meals for three winters became a lawful wife. The Celtic handfast marriage may also be referred to.
(w. c. s.)
CONDAMINE, Charles Marie de la. See La Condamine.
CONDÉ, a town of France, in the department of Nord, arrondissement of Valenciennes, is situated at the confluence of the Scheldt and the Maine, and at the terminus of the Mons canal, two miles from the Belgian frontier. It contains a hotel d3 ville and an arsenal, a church and a hospital. Brewing is carried on to a small extent, aa well as the manufacture of oil and salt, and there is a large trade in coal. The place is of considerable anti quity, dating at least from the later Roman period. Taken in 1076 by Louis XIV., it definitely passed into the possession of France by the Treaty of Nimeguen two years later, and was afterwards fortified by Vauban. Dur ing the revolutionary war it was attacked and taken by the Austrians (1794) - and in 1815 it again fell to the Allies. Condé gives its name to a distinguished branch of the Bourbon family. Population of the town in 1872, 3748; of the commune, 4964.
CONDÉ SUR NOIREAU, a town of France, in the department of Calvados, and arrondissement of Vire,is situated at the confluence of the Noireau and the Drouance, 28 miles south of Caen. The town is the seat of a civil tribunal, and its manufactures are not unimportant, comprising cotton and woollen weaving, dyeing, and tanning. The two old churches of St Sauveur and St Martin are worthy of remark, the latter possessing a very fine stained -glass window representing our Lord s Passion. A statue has been erected here to Durnont d Urville, the traveller, a native of the town. Conde formerly belonged to the countship of Mortain; and it owes its origin to a fort which is said to have been constructed by the Romans. It fell into the hands of the English in 1418, but was retaken by Charles VII. in 1449. Much interest was shown by the inhabitants in the Reformation movement, and a provincial synod was held in the town in 1674. At the Revolution it lost its name of Condé, and during that period was known only as Noireau. Population of the town in 1872, 6445.
(assumed from the ancient town of Condé, noticed above) was borne by a branch of the House of Bourbon. The first who assumed it was the famous Huguenot leader, Louis de Bourbon, the fifth son of Charles de Bourbon, duke of Vendome (see next article). His son, Henry, prince of Condé (1552-1588), also belonged to the Huguenot party. Fleeing to Germany, he raised a small army, with which in 1575 he joined Alencon. He became leader of the Huguenots, but after several years fighting was taken prisoner of war. Not long after he died of poison, administered, accord ing to the belief of his contemporaries, by his wife, Catherine de la Tremouille. This event, among others, awoke strong suspicions as to the legitimacy of his heir and namesake, Henry, prince of Conde(1588-1646). King Henry IV., how ever, did not take advantage of the scandal. In 1609 he caused the prince of Conde to marry Charlotte de Montmorency, whom shortly after Condé was obliged to save from the king's persistent gallantry by a hasty flight, first to Spain and then to Italy. On the death of Henry, Conde; returned
to France, and intrigued against the regent, Mary de' Medici ; but he was seized, and imprisoned for three years.