A MAN’S GIFT TO A WOMAN AT THE DAWN
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Abstract
This paper is focused on the legal institute entitled “the morning gift” (Morgengabe). It was a gift given by the husband to his wife after the wedding night as appreciation of her virginity. The morning gift was given in the form of money, but also as jewelry, land, cattle etc. It is an ancient legal institute appearing already in barbaric German or Anglo-Saxon legal codes we encounter since early Medieval times in both European and non-European law, for instance in Islamic law, in essence until today. It was eventually also codified, ex. in the 1811 ABGB. In the Czech lands this institute had been applied until 1950 when a new Civil Code was enacted. In Liechtenstein, the statutory regulation of the morning gift lasted until 1993, in Austria the institute was abolished as late as 2009. The aim and object of this paper is to outline the developments of the “morning gift” as a legal institute in wider international context as well as, more specifically, in the Czech lands; to outline its significance in matrimonial law including the handling of this gift after death of the husband; and to provide examples of private legal acts establishing a morning gift, including on what were their contents; as well as to consider what role the notion of the morning gift can have in contemporary (and dynamic in its changes) Europe, especially in the context of encounters with different legal systems due to migration.
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