Friedelehe

Friedelehe meaning "lover marriage" is a term for a postulated form of Germanic marriage said to have existed during the Early Middle Ages. The concept was introduced into mediaeval historiography in the 1920s by Herbert Meyer. There is some controversy as to whether such a marriage form, a quasi-marriage, existed but historians who have identified it agree that it was not accepted by the Church. The term Friedelehe means approximately "lover marriage". The modern German word Friedel is derived from the Old High German friudil, which meant "lover", or "sweetheart"; this is in turn derived from frijōn "to love". The OHG friudil was parallel to the Old Norse fridl, frilla, modern Danish and Norwegian frille "lover". Friedel is compounded with the word Ehe "marriage", from OHG ēha or ēa "marriage", which in turn harks back to the form ēwa, meaning (approximately) cosmic or divine "law". An OHG form friudilēha is itself apparently not attested, contributing to the controversy about the authenticity of the modern term. According to Herbert Meyer, the characteristics of Friedelehe were: The husband did not become the legal guardian of the woman, in contrast to the Muntehe, or dowered marriage. The marriage was based on a consensual agreement between husband and wife, that is, both had the desire to marry. The woman had the same right as the man to ask for divorce. Friedelehe was usually contracted between couples from different social status. Friedelehe was not synonymous with polygyny, but enabled it. The children of a Friedelehe were not under the control of the father, but only that of the mother. Children of a Friedelehe initially enjoyed full inheritance rights; under the growing influence of the church their position was continuously weakened. A Friedelehe came into being solely by public conveyance of the bride to the groom's domicile and the wedding night consummation; the bride also received a Morgengabe. A Friedelehe was able to be converted into a Muntehe (dowered or guardianship marriage), if the husband subsequently conveyed bridewealth.