“For, while the infant was in ward, the guardian had the power of tendering him or her a suitable match, without disparagement, or inequality: which if the infants refused, they forfeited the value of the marriage … to their guardian; that is, so much as a jury would assess, or any one would bona fide give to the guardian for such an alliance: … and, if the infants married themselves without the guardian’s consent, they forfeited double the value, duplicem valorem maritagii. This seems to have been one of the greatest hardships of our ancient tenures.” 2 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 70 (1766).
duplex valor maritagii
duplex valor maritagii (d[y]oo-pleks val-[schwa]r mar-[schwa]-tay-jee-I), n. [Law Latin “double the value of a marriage”] Hist. A ward’s forfeiture of double the value of a marriage made without the guardian’s consent. • In the quotation that follows, Blackstone uses the accusative form (duplicem valorem maritagii) because the phrase follows the verb forfeited.
