for having, as is supposed, ordered the death of sons whom they not unreasonably regarded as a menace to the highest good of the country.[1] On the other hand, as late as the thirteenth century the Church Courts in England ruled that a husband could transfer his wife to another man for a period determinable at the recipient's pleasure.[2] The right of selling a ward's marriage was among the most profitable incidents of feudal tenure; and the ward was so far better off than the natural child, that a guardian was bound to choose the husband in her own rank. In England it is probably correct to say that the consent of the parties has always been the first thing considered, and the consent of the parents nothing more than a necessary formality, without which the marriage of minors could not be valid. As, however, a girl of seven might be betrothed in mediaeval England,[3] and as down to a later time the marriages of mere children were still common, the parental authority was practically absolute; and to marry without the consent of the parents was regarded as an outrage upon
- ↑ Motley seems to incline to the belief that Philip contrived his son's death (Rise of Dutch Republic, p. 403). Ranke and Sir W. Stirling-Maxwell describe the death as natural, but mention the charges against Philip (Spanish Empire, p. 34, and Life of Don John, i. pp. 74, 75). The essential point is, that Philip has generally been believed guilty. As regards Peter the Great, Coxe decides against Peter (Northern Tour, vol. ii. pp. 308-315). Kelly takes it as proved (History of Russia, chap, xxvii.) Oustrialoff, of course, accepts the official story, that the Tsarevitch died of apoplexy (Hist. of Russia, ii. p. 84); and Schuyler apparently thinks that he died of the consequences of torture, while it was still doubtful if Peter would carry the sentence of death into execution (Peter the Great, vol. ii. pp. 431-433).
- ↑ See John Comoy's grant of his wife: "Noveritis me tradidisse et dimisisse spontaneft voluntate meâ domino Gul. Paynell iniliti Margaretam uxorem meam … et concedo quod praedicta Margareta sit et maneat cum praedicto Gulielmo pro voluntate ipsius Gulielmi."—Rot. Parl. vol. i. p. 146.
- ↑ "All persons who had completed their seventh year were held competent to contract espousals."—Reeve's History of English Law, vol. iv. p. 53.
