Adultery was prohibited for men as well as for women. The penalty
was payment of a bot or denial of burial in consecrated ground. A
law of Canute provided that if a wife was guilty of adultery, she
forfeited all her property to her husband and her nose and ears,
but this law did not survive him.
Laymen may marry a second time, and a young widow may again take a
husband, but they will not receive a blessing and must do penance
for their incontinence.
Prostitutes were to be driven out of the land or destroyed in the
land, unless they cease from their wickedness and make amends to
the utmost of their ability.
Neither husband nor wife could sell family property without the
other's consent.
If there was a marriage agreement, it determined the wife's
"dower", which would be hers upon his death. Otherwise, if a man
who held his land in socage [owned it freely and not subject to a
larger landholder] died before his wife, she got half this
property. If there were minor children, she received all this
property.
Inheritance of land to adult children was by the custom of the
land held. In some places, the custom was for the oldest son to
take it and in other places, the custom was for the youngest son
to take it. Usually, the sons each took an equal portion by
partition, but the eldest son had the right to buy out the others
as to the chief messuage [manor; dwelling and supporting land and
buildings] as long as he compensated them with property of equal
value.
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