More danico
Encyclopedia
The phrase more danico is a Mediaeval Latin legalistic expression which may be translated as "in the Danish
manner" or "by Norse
customary law". It designates a type of traditional Germanic
marriage
practiced in northern Europe
during the Middle Ages
.
and Poppa, who was taken after a battle at Paris
; but this is not a defining characteristic. While Roman law
had not distinguished between elopement and abduction (both being raptus in parentes), the distinction was significant in Germanic law. Still, according to Reynolds, the consent of the parentes was required in the more danico case. This consent could still be obtained after the fact, if an elopement was involved.
The word "secular" here should not be interpreted to mean that no context of Germanic religion was involved. Although the form of any ritual that might have been employed is unknown, it is sometimes assumed that it was a type of handfasting
.
More danico permitted polygyny
(serial or simultaneous), but is not synonymous with it. The "putting away" of a more danico wife could apparently be done at the mere wish of the husband; the rights of the wife are unclear. Often the putting away was done with the intention of marrying a still higher-ranking woman more christiano; but since there are numerous instances of the husband returning to the more danico wife, it is possible that the relationship had merely been deactivated or kept in the background. The union could also be fully dissolved, so that the wife was free to marry another man. Her consent in the matter may or may not have been required; again, the consensual aspect is unknown. (See below.)
By tradition and customary law, the children of such a relationship were in no way considered of lesser rank or disadvantaged with respect to inheritance. Many sons more danico went on to become dukes or kings by succession or conquest.
Increasingly discouraged by the Christian
church, the practice gradually died out. Proponents of the Friedelehe
theory claimed that the institution left a vestige in the institution of morganatic marriage
, but this interpretation is now discredited.
By accepting baptism and vassalage under a Christian prince under Charles the Simple
after the Treaty of Saint Clair-sur-Epte
in 911
, Rollo had placed the Viking
s of Normandy
on the inevitable path of Christianization; but they clung to some old customs.
There was a perennial political tension between canon law and the traditional law. The Church deprecated this type of traditional union, employing the terms "bastardy" and "concubinage". On a purely political level, temporal rulers of more fully Christianized entities did not ignore the advantage of denigrating their enemies in moral terms with respect to their marriage customs, as for example did Archbishop
Mauger
and Count
William of Talou
in their attacks on William the Bastard.
The instrumentality of Christian clergy at a marriage ceremony was not specifically required by the Church until the Council of Trent
on November 11, 1563.
ethnographer
Tacitus
writing in his De origine et situ Germanorum described the customs of the Germanic tribes and praised their monogamy
. However, by the Viking age
they had acquired a reputation for their polygyny
.
Speaking of the Swedes, Adam von Bremen said:
, reflect customary marriage arrangements structured according to the status of the bride.
Although the term more danico is not generally applied to their unions, the Merovingian and Carolingian kings had a similar practice.
and Orderic Vitalis
, the purport of the phrase more danico is based in both the historical context, as well as in the meaning of the words within the fabric of the Latin language and the underlying Old Norse
.
Orderic Vitalis spoke Old English until the age of ten, when he was forced to adopt Norman French; he wrote in a stilted, but fluent and educated Mediaeval Latin. In the vernacular he would have spoken of the custom as danesche manere (Norman French), as would William of Jumièges, who was Norman, but also wrote in Latin.
In Lewis & Short's Latin Dictionary, the semantic range of the Latin word mos is elongated along the axis of arbitrary↔required, extending from "wont" or "caprice" on the one end, to "law" or "precept" on the other end:
Thus the term mos/mor- captures the ambiguity between the official Christian view of the practice as a despicable and self-indulgent "fashion", on the one hand, and the Germanic institution sanctioned by ancient traditional "law", on the other hand.
, the essentially tribal entities that became the modern Scandinavia
n nations differed in some customs, but had a concept of themselves as a unity. For example, according to the Gray Goose Laws
of the Icelandic Commonwealth
recorded in 1117, Swedes, Norwegians, Icelanders and Danes spoke the same language, using or dansk tunga ("Danish tongue") or norrønt mál ("Nordic language") to name their language, Old Norse
. Here "dansk" meant "Norse". Furthermore, "more danico' (Danish efter dansk skik) was not merely a "Norse custom", but prevalent among other Germanic peoples such as the Franks
(see above).
It is also worth noting that Rollo
, founder of the Norman dynasty, is claimed as Norwegian in the Norse sagas, but as Danish by William of Jumieges.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
manner" or "by Norse
Norsemen
Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
customary law". It designates a type of traditional Germanic
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
practiced in northern Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
.
The institution
The examples that have come down to us involve powerful rulers in a union with a highborn woman of somewhat lesser rank. Rarely, it occurred to legitimize an abduction, as with RolloRollo
Rollo has multiple meanings. It may mean:a first name*Rollo Armstrong, member of British dance act Faithless* Rollo May, American psychologist...
and Poppa, who was taken after a battle at Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
; but this is not a defining characteristic. While Roman law
Roman law
Roman law is the legal system of ancient Rome, and the legal developments which occurred before the 7th century AD — when the Roman–Byzantine state adopted Greek as the language of government. The development of Roman law comprises more than a thousand years of jurisprudence — from the Twelve...
had not distinguished between elopement and abduction (both being raptus in parentes), the distinction was significant in Germanic law. Still, according to Reynolds, the consent of the parentes was required in the more danico case. This consent could still be obtained after the fact, if an elopement was involved.
The word "secular" here should not be interpreted to mean that no context of Germanic religion was involved. Although the form of any ritual that might have been employed is unknown, it is sometimes assumed that it was a type of handfasting
Handfasting
Handfasting is a traditional European ceremony of betrothal or wedding. It usually involved the tying or binding of the right hands of the bride and groom with a cord or ribbon for the duration of the wedding ceremony.-Etymology:...
.
More danico permitted polygyny
Polygyny
Polygyny is a form of marriage in which a man has two or more wives at the same time. In countries where the practice is illegal, the man is referred to as a bigamist or a polygamist...
(serial or simultaneous), but is not synonymous with it. The "putting away" of a more danico wife could apparently be done at the mere wish of the husband; the rights of the wife are unclear. Often the putting away was done with the intention of marrying a still higher-ranking woman more christiano; but since there are numerous instances of the husband returning to the more danico wife, it is possible that the relationship had merely been deactivated or kept in the background. The union could also be fully dissolved, so that the wife was free to marry another man. Her consent in the matter may or may not have been required; again, the consensual aspect is unknown. (See below.)
By tradition and customary law, the children of such a relationship were in no way considered of lesser rank or disadvantaged with respect to inheritance. Many sons more danico went on to become dukes or kings by succession or conquest.
Increasingly discouraged by the Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
church, the practice gradually died out. Proponents of the Friedelehe
Friedelehe
Friedelehe is the term for a postulated form of Germanic marriage said to have existed during the Early Middle Ages. This concept was introduced into mediaeval historiography during the 1920s by Herbert Meyer. Whether such a marriage form actually existed remains controversial.- Etymology :The...
theory claimed that the institution left a vestige in the institution of morganatic marriage
Morganatic marriage
In the context of European royalty, a morganatic marriage is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which prevents the passage of the husband's titles and privileges to the wife and any children born of the marriage...
, but this interpretation is now discredited.
Status of Germanic marriages in a Christian society
It was not until the nation consciousness of the western nations was well developed and national laws were codified that it became the norm that all persons in a country were to be subject to the same law. Previously, each man was held accountable according to the laws of his own people.By accepting baptism and vassalage under a Christian prince under Charles the Simple
Charles the Simple
Charles III , called the Simple or the Straightforward , was the undisputed King of France from 898 until 922 and the King of Lotharingia from 911 until 919/23...
after the Treaty of Saint Clair-sur-Epte
Treaty of Saint Clair-sur-Epte
The Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte was signed in the autumn of 911 between Charles III of France and Rollo, the leader of the Vikings, to settle the Normans in Neustria and to protect Charles' kingdom from any new invasion by the "northmen". No written records survive concerning the creation of the...
in 911
911
Year 911 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.-Africa:* Rebellion of the Kutama Berbers against the Fatimid Caliphate...
, Rollo had placed the Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
s of Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
on the inevitable path of Christianization; but they clung to some old customs.
There was a perennial political tension between canon law and the traditional law. The Church deprecated this type of traditional union, employing the terms "bastardy" and "concubinage". On a purely political level, temporal rulers of more fully Christianized entities did not ignore the advantage of denigrating their enemies in moral terms with respect to their marriage customs, as for example did Archbishop
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
Mauger
Mauger (archbishop)
Mauger was the son of Richard II, duke of Normandy, and Papia, daughter of Richildis of Envermeu. His brother was William of Talou, the count of Arques....
and Count
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
William of Talou
William of Talou
William of Talou was the son of duke Richard II of Normandy and Papia from Envermeu. His brother was Mauger, who became archbishop of Rouen in 1037...
in their attacks on William the Bastard.
The instrumentality of Christian clergy at a marriage ceremony was not specifically required by the Church until the Council of Trent
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils. It convened in Trent between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods...
on November 11, 1563.
Historical examples
The RomanRome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
ethnographer
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
writing in his De origine et situ Germanorum described the customs of the Germanic tribes and praised their monogamy
Monogamy
Monogamy /Gr. μονός+γάμος - one+marriage/ a form of marriage in which an individual has only one spouse at any one time. In current usage monogamy often refers to having one sexual partner irrespective of marriage or reproduction...
. However, by the Viking age
Viking Age
Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...
they had acquired a reputation for their polygyny
Polygyny
Polygyny is a form of marriage in which a man has two or more wives at the same time. In countries where the practice is illegal, the man is referred to as a bigamist or a polygamist...
.
Speaking of the Swedes, Adam von Bremen said:
Norman
- RolloRolloRollo has multiple meanings. It may mean:a first name*Rollo Armstrong, member of British dance act Faithless* Rollo May, American psychologist...
, founder of the Norman dynasty, was the father of Duke William Longsword, his successor as Duke of NormandyDuke of NormandyThe Duke of Normandy is the title of the reigning monarch of the British Crown Dependancies of the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey. The title traces its roots to the Duchy of Normandy . Whether the reigning sovereign is a male or female, they are always titled as the "Duke of...
with his wife more danico Pop[p]a. He put Poppa aside in 912912Year 912 was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.-Africa:* Second rebellion of the Kutama tribesmen against the Fatimid Caliphate in two years.- Europe :...
to marry Giesele, daughter of Charles the SimpleCharles the SimpleCharles III , called the Simple or the Straightforward , was the undisputed King of France from 898 until 922 and the King of Lotharingia from 911 until 919/23...
. When Giesele died, he returned to Poppa.
- William Longsword in his turn had a first more danico wife named Sprota. His son Richard I, Duke of Normandy "the Fearless", child of Sprota, succeeded him. William also left a widow, Liègard (Liutgard), who died in 985.
- Richard I "the Fearless" first married Emma of France more christiano, a childless union ended by her early death. He also had an (earlier?) more danico wife Gunnora with whom he fathered eight children, among them his successors as Duke of Normandy Richard II, Duke of NormandyRichard II, Duke of NormandyRichard II , called the Good , was the eldest son and heir of Richard I the Fearless and Gunnora.-Biography:...
"the Good" and Richard III, Duke of NormandyRichard III, Duke of NormandyRichard III was the eldest son of Richard II, who died in 1027. Before succeeding his father, perhaps about 1020, he had been sent by his father in command of a large army, to attack bishop/count Hugh of Chalon in order to rescue his brother-in-law, Reginald, later Count of Burgundy, whom the...
. After Emma's death he married Gunnora more christiano to enable the ecclesiastical appointment of their son Robert II, Archbishop of RouenRobert II, Archbishop of RouenRobert II was son of duke Richard I of Normandy and his second wife, Gunnora. He was a younger brother of duke Richard II and uncle of duke Robert I...
. Richard I had several "mistresses" in addition.
- Richard II "the Good" married Judith of BrittanyJudith of BrittanyJudith of Brittany was the daughter of Conan I, Duke of Brittany and Ermengarde of Anjou, and the mother of Robert the Magnificent.She was the first wife of Richard the Good, Duke of Normandy, whom she married in 996. They had six children:...
(apparently) more christiano and had six children. Two of his sons succeeded him as Duke of Brittany. He also married Papia (Poppa) of Envermeu (custom unknown). He may have had a third wife named Astrid (Estritha).
- His eldest son Richard III succeeded him, but reigned only few months. He was betrothed to both Adela of Corbie and Constance of ArlesConstance of ArlesConstance of Arles , also known as Constance of Provence, was the third wife and queen of King Robert II of France. She was the daughter of William I, count of Provence and Adelais of Anjou, daughter of Fulk II of Anjou...
, but did not marry either. He had children from two unknown mistresses.
- Most famously, his second son, Robert the Magnificent, Duke of Normandy, was the father of William the Conqueror with his wife more danico HerlevaHerlevaHerleva also known as Herleve, Arlette, Arletta and Arlotte, was the mother of William I of England. She had two other sons, Odo of Bayeux and Robert, Count of Mortain, who became prominent in William's realm....
. According to Robert of TorigniRobert of TorigniRobert of Torigni was a Norman monk and chronicler. He was born at Torigni-sur-Vire in central Normandy, at an unknown date. He entered the monastery of Le Bec in 1128 and became prior there about 1149. He was elected abbot of Mont-Saint-Michel in 1154, and served there until his death.Robert was...
, she had been preceded by another "concubine".
Danish-English
- Canute the GreatCanute the GreatCnut the Great , also known as Canute, was a king of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden. Though after the death of his heirs within a decade of his own and the Norman conquest of England in 1066, his legacy was largely lost to history, historian Norman F...
and his "handfastHandfastingHandfasting is a traditional European ceremony of betrothal or wedding. It usually involved the tying or binding of the right hands of the bride and groom with a cord or ribbon for the duration of the wedding ceremony.-Etymology:...
" wife Aelgifu of NorthamptonAelgifu of NorthamptonÆlfgifu of Northampton was the first wife of King Cnut of England and Denmark, and mother of King Harold I of England . She served as regent of Norway from 1030 to 1035.-Family background:...
, were parents of Harold HarefootHarold HarefootHarold Harefoot was King of England from 1037 to 1040. His cognomen "Harefoot" referred to his speed, and the skill of his huntsmanship. He was the son of Cnut the Great, king of England, Denmark, and Norway by Ælfgifu of Northampton...
, King of England from 1035 to 1040, and of HarthacanuteHarthacanuteHarthacnut was King of Denmark from 1035 to 1042 and King of England from 1040 to 1042.He was the son of King Cnut the Great, who ruled Denmark, Norway, and England, and Emma of Normandy. When Cnut died in 1035, Harthacnut struggled to retain his father's possessions...
, King of Denmark from 1035 to 1042, King of England from 1040 to 1042.
- Harold GodwinsonHarold GodwinsonHarold Godwinson was the last Anglo-Saxon King of England.It could be argued that Edgar the Atheling, who was proclaimed as king by the witan but never crowned, was really the last Anglo-Saxon king...
, the king of England defeated by William the Conqueror, was married for twenty years more danico to Edith Swannesha and had at least six children with her. He later married more christiano Edith (Ealdgȳð), daughter of Ælfgār, Earl of MerciaÆlfgar, Earl of MerciaÆlfgar was son of Leofric, Earl of Mercia,by his well-known wife Godgifu . He succeeded to his father's title and responsibilities on the latter's death in 1057....
and widow of the WelshWalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
prince Gruffydd ap LlywelynGruffydd ap LlywelynGruffydd ap Llywelyn was the ruler of all Wales from 1055 until his death, the only Welsh monarch able to make this boast...
with whom he had several more children. (The two women are distinct, although sometimes conflated, due to the similarity of names.)
Hiberno-Norse
- Cerball mac DúnlaingeCerball mac DúnlaingeCerball mac Dúnlainge was king of Osraige in south-east Ireland. The kingdom of Osraige occupied roughly the area of modern County Kilkenny and lay between the larger provincial kingdoms of Munster and Leinster....
(Cerval MacDungail, Old Icelandic Kjarvalr Írakonungr), King of Osraige (i.e. Dublin) in IrelandIrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
had an Irish wife more christiano named Maelfebhal, and several more danico wives, whose children emigrated to Iceland, as enumerated in the LandnámabókLandnámabókLandnámabók , often shortened to Landnáma, is a medieval Icelandic written work describing in considerable detail the settlement of Iceland by the Norse in the 9th and 10th centuries AD.-Landnáma:...
.
Frankish
Any discussion of West Germanic marriage customs leads directly into a consideration of the Frankish Lex Salica. Its well-known inheritance laws, resulting in the institution of morganatic marriageMorganatic marriage
In the context of European royalty, a morganatic marriage is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which prevents the passage of the husband's titles and privileges to the wife and any children born of the marriage...
, reflect customary marriage arrangements structured according to the status of the bride.
Although the term more danico is not generally applied to their unions, the Merovingian and Carolingian kings had a similar practice.
- The Merovingian Theudebert ITheudebert ITheudebert I was the Merovingian king of Austrasia from 533 to his death in 548. He was the son of Theuderic I and the father of Theudebald....
, king of AustrasiaAustrasiaAustrasia formed the northeastern portion of the Kingdom of the Merovingian Franks, comprising parts of the territory of present-day eastern France, western Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Metz served as its capital, although some Austrasian kings ruled from Rheims, Trier, and...
, had several wives. He abandoned his customary wife Deuteria for an alliance with Wisigard daughter of WachoWachoWacho was king of the Lombards before they entered Italy from an unknown date until his death in 539. His father was Unichis. Wacho usurped the throne by assassinating his uncle, King Tato . Tato's son Ildchis fought with him and fled to the Gepids where he died...
, king of the LombardsLombardsThe Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
. He was forced by his supporters to take Deuteria back.
- ChilpericChilperic IChilperic I was the king of Neustria from 561 to his death. He was one of the sons of the Frankish king Clotaire I and Queen Aregund....
, king of NeustriaNeustriaThe territory of Neustria or Neustrasia, meaning "new [western] land", originated in 511, made up of the regions from Aquitaine to the English Channel, approximating most of the north of present-day France, with Paris and Soissons as its main cities...
repudiated his first wife, AudoveraAudoveraAudovera was the first wife or mistress of Chilperic I, king of Neustria.They had four children.*Theudebert, died in the war of 575*Merovech , married the widow Brunhilda and became his father's enemy*Clovis, assassinated by Fredegund in 580...
, with whom he had had four children, and took as his concubine a serving-woman called FredegundFredegundFredegund was the Queen consort of Chilperic I, the Merovingian Frankish king of Soissons.All her wealth and power came to her through her association with Chilperic...
. He then dismissed Fredegund and married GalswinthaGalswinthaGalswintha was the daughter of Athanagild, Visigothic king of Hispania , and Goiswintha...
, daughter of the Visigothic king of Spain, AthanagildAthanagildAthanagild was Visigothic King of Hispania and Septimania. He had rebelled against his predecessor, Agila, in 551. The armies of Agila and Athanagild met at Seville, where Agila met a second defeat...
. Galswintha was subsequently murdered at the instigation of Fredegund, whom Chilperic then took as wife, legitimizing their four children.
- Pippin the Middle and his "concubine" AlpaidaAlpaidaAlpaida was Pepin II's concubine and mother to Pepin II's two illegitimate sons, Charles Martel and Childebrand .-External links:*...
were the parents of the "illegitimate" son Charles MartelCharles MartelCharles Martel , also known as Charles the Hammer, was a Frankish military and political leader, who served as Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings and ruled de facto during an interregnum at the end of his life, using the title Duke and Prince of the Franks. In 739 he was offered the...
.
- Charles Martel himself had a concubine or traditional wife named SwanachildSwanachildSwanachild was the second wife of Charles Martel, who brought her back from his first campaign in Bavaria in 725, along with her uncle Grimoald's wife, Biltrude. Swanachild belonged to the clan of the Agilolfings though her parentage is not quite clear...
.
- CharlemagneCharlemagneCharlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
had three wives more christiano and at least five "concubines".
- Pippin the Hunchback, the firstborn son of Charlemagne and his "concubine" HimiltrudeHimiltrudeHimiltrude was the mother of Charlemagne's first-born son Pippin the Hunchback.-Life:Little is known about Himiltrude's origins. Paulus Diaconus calls her a "noble girl"...
, who was put aside when he married Desiderata.
The Latin phrase
Known to us from the histories of William of JumiègesWilliam of Jumièges
William of Jumièges was a contemporary of the events of 1066, and one of our earliest writers on the subject of the Norman Conquest. He is himself a "shadowy figure", only known by his dedicatory letter to King William as a monk of Jumièges...
and Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis was an English chronicler of Norman ancestry who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th and 12th century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England. The modern biographer of Henry I of England, C...
, the purport of the phrase more danico is based in both the historical context, as well as in the meaning of the words within the fabric of the Latin language and the underlying Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
.
Orderic Vitalis spoke Old English until the age of ten, when he was forced to adopt Norman French; he wrote in a stilted, but fluent and educated Mediaeval Latin. In the vernacular he would have spoken of the custom as danesche manere (Norman French), as would William of Jumièges, who was Norman, but also wrote in Latin.
More
More "by custom" is an "ablative of manner", the subject form being mos.In Lewis & Short's Latin Dictionary, the semantic range of the Latin word mos is elongated along the axis of arbitrary↔required, extending from "wont" or "caprice" on the one end, to "law" or "precept" on the other end:
- I. "Manner, custom, way, usage, practice, fashion, wont, as determined not by the laws, but by men's will and pleasure, humor, self-will, caprice." O tempora o mores!O tempora o mores!O tempora o mores is a famous sentence by Cicero in the fourth book of his second oration against Verres and First Oration against Catiline...
"Oh what times, what fashions! (CiceroCiceroMarcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
). - II. "The will as a rule for action, custom, usage, practice, wont, habit" Leges mori serviunt. "Laws serve custom." (PlautusPlautusTitus Maccius Plautus , commonly known as "Plautus", was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by the innovator of Latin literature, Livius Andronicus...
). - III. In an archaic or poetic sense, and in post-Augustinian (that is, Mediaeval) Latin: "A precept, law, rule." Mos maiorumMos maiorumThe mos maiorum is the unwritten code from which the ancient Romans derived their social norms. It is the core concept of Roman traditionalism, distinguished from but in dynamic complement to written law. The mos maiorum The mos maiorum ("ancestral custom") is the unwritten code from which the...
. The (unwritten) Constitution of the Roman RepublicConstitution of the Roman RepublicThe Constitution of the Roman Republic was a set of guidelines and principles passed down mainly through precedent. The constitution was largely unwritten, uncodified, and constantly evolving...
.
Thus the term mos/mor- captures the ambiguity between the official Christian view of the practice as a despicable and self-indulgent "fashion", on the one hand, and the Germanic institution sanctioned by ancient traditional "law", on the other hand.
Danico
During the Viking AgeViking Age
Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...
, the essentially tribal entities that became the modern Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n nations differed in some customs, but had a concept of themselves as a unity. For example, according to the Gray Goose Laws
Gray Goose Laws
The Gray Goose Laws were a collection of laws from the Icelandic Commonwealth period. The term Grágás was originally used in a medieval source to refer to a collection of Norwegian laws and was probably mistakenly used to describe the existing collection of Icelandic law during the sixteenth...
of the Icelandic Commonwealth
Icelandic Commonwealth
The Icelandic Commonwealth, Icelandic Free State, or Republic of Iceland was the state existing in Iceland between the establishment of the Althing in 930 and the pledge of fealty to the Norwegian king in 1262...
recorded in 1117, Swedes, Norwegians, Icelanders and Danes spoke the same language, using or dansk tunga ("Danish tongue") or norrønt mál ("Nordic language") to name their language, Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
. Here "dansk" meant "Norse". Furthermore, "more danico' (Danish efter dansk skik) was not merely a "Norse custom", but prevalent among other Germanic peoples such as the Franks
Crusaders
The Crusaders are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Christchurch that competes in the Super Rugby competition. They are the most successful team in Super Rugby history with seven titles...
(see above).
It is also worth noting that Rollo
Rollo
Rollo has multiple meanings. It may mean:a first name*Rollo Armstrong, member of British dance act Faithless* Rollo May, American psychologist...
, founder of the Norman dynasty, is claimed as Norwegian in the Norse sagas, but as Danish by William of Jumieges.
See also
- ConcubinageConcubinageConcubinage is the state of a woman or man in an ongoing, usually matrimonially oriented, relationship with somebody to whom they cannot be married, often because of a difference in social status or economic condition.-Concubinage:...
- CohabitationCohabitationCohabitation usually refers to an arrangement whereby two people decide to live together on a long-term or permanent basis in an emotionally and/or sexually intimate relationship. The term is most frequently applied to couples who are not married...
- FriedeleheFriedeleheFriedelehe is the term for a postulated form of Germanic marriage said to have existed during the Early Middle Ages. This concept was introduced into mediaeval historiography during the 1920s by Herbert Meyer. Whether such a marriage form actually existed remains controversial.- Etymology :The...
- Germanic peoplesGermanic peoplesThe Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
- Free unionFree UnionA free union is a union between two persons that lacks any publicly recognized bond .-Roman Catholic criticism:The Roman Catholic Church argues that the phrase "free union" is misleading. The Catechism of the denomination raises the question of what "union" can mean in the phrase "free union"...
- HandfastingHandfastingHandfasting is a traditional European ceremony of betrothal or wedding. It usually involved the tying or binding of the right hands of the bride and groom with a cord or ribbon for the duration of the wedding ceremony.-Etymology:...
- Old NorseOld NorseOld Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....