stipulatio sponsalitia
stipulatio sponsalitia (stip-y[schwa]-lay-shee-oh spon-s[schwa]-lish-ee-[ schwa]). [Latin] Roman law. In early law, a solemn promise by a father (paterfamilias) that his child would marry someone else’s child. • In some cases, there was a penalty if the marriage did not occur. In classical and later Roman law, in which free marriage was the rule, such a promise was unenforceable because it was regarded as immoral (contra bonos mores).
