Series 1 > Statutes of the Scottish Church, 1225-1559

206
FROM PAPAL DECRETALS
[app.
of the lord of the manor cannot transfer to her greater
rights than he himself possessed; and the same holds
good as to the man who holds property by inheritance
or in feu under some limiting condition.
[a.d. 1203.] Pope Innocent in. to the Archdeacon of St.
Andrews in Scotland. . . . Your discretion has lately inquired
of us, if an estate have been given to somebody not in inherit¬
ance or in fee but only to be held by him for his lifetime, and
if he afterward settled a third part of the same as dowry on
his wife, whether when the husband dies the wife ought to
have and to hold the said dowry for her lifetime, since the
church is bound to protect the dowries of widows. You have
furthermore desired to be instructed by letter from us, if an
estate have been granted heritably and in fee to a man and
his heir procreated from his lawful wife, and if the man, having
granted part of the same to his wife as dowry, have thereafter
died without offspring, whether the wife ought to hold that
dowry of right, and whether further the church should in this
case make a stand on her behalf, or whether, on the death of the
husband, such estate should without more ado return into the
possession of him who originally granted it. We therefore to
your question make this reply: Since in regular course no one
can transfer to another fuller rights than he is himself shown
to possess, a man to whom an estate has been granted on the
foresaid conditions cannot bequeath to his wife what he has no
claim to possess save for his lifetime, nor can his wife hold a part
of the land by grant of her husband as a marriage settlement;
unless indeed he to whom the lordship of that estate be¬
longs has been pleased to consent to the settlement in question.
What we have said as to the first inquiry, the same we reply
as to the second. For although the church ought to show
itself favourable in the case of widows, yet the favour of the
church must not be extended to them contrary to justice.
Furthermore we would not have you forget that according to
legal definitions a wife is said to bring her husband a dowry,
whereas the man is said to make his wife a marriage
settlement.