teach men publicly.[369] She was not allowed to bring a
criminal action except in cases of high treason or to avenge the death
of near relatives.[370] Parents could dedicate a daughter to God while
she was yet an infant; and this parental vow bound her to the nunnery
when she was mature, whether she was willing or not.[371] Virgins or
widows who had once consecrated themselves to God might not marry under
pain of excommunication.[372] Parents could not prevent a daughter from
taking vows, if she so wished, after she had attained the age of
twelve.[373]

[Sidenote: Woman and marriage under canon law.]

The most important effect of the canon law was on marriage, which was
now a sacrament and had its sanction not in the laws of men, but in the
express decrees of God. Hence even engagements acquired a sacred
character unknown to the Roman law; and when a betrothal had once been
entered into, it could be broken only in case one or both of the
contracting parties desired to enter a monastery.[374] Free consent of
both man and woman was necessary for matrimony.[375] There must also be
a dowry and a public ceremony.[376] The legitimate wife is thus
defined[377]: "A chaste virgin, betrothed in chastity, dowered according
to law, given to her betrothed by her parents, and received from the
hands of the bridesmaids (_a paranimphis accipienda_); she is to be
taken according to the laws and the Gospel and the marriage ceremony
must be public; all the days of her life--unless by consent for brief
periods to devote to worship--she is never to be separated from her
husband; for the cause of adultery she is to be dismissed, but while she
lives her husband may marry no other." The blessing of the priest was
necessary. About every form connected with the marriage service the
Church threw its halo of mystery and symbol to emphasise the sacred
character of the union. Thus[378]: "Women are veiled during the marriage
ceremony for this reason, that they may know they are lowly and in
subjection to their husbands.... A ring is given by the bridegroom to
his betrothed either as a sign of mutual love or rather that their
hearts may be bound together by this pledge. For this reason, too, the
ring is worn on the fourth finger, because there is a certain vein in
that finger which they say reaches to the heart."

[Sidenote: Clandestine marriages.]

Clandestine marriages were forbidden,[379] but the Church always
presumed everything it could in f