With or without hand

Prof. Kodrębski, a lecturer in Roman law, memorized 100 pages of text from a medical textbook in two hours. Within two months I had memorized 100 pages of a textbook on Roman law written by Prof. Kodrębski. The difference in capabilities of different minds. Prof. Kodrębski had a favorite set of three questions in the Roman law exam:

-“What was matrimonium cum manu (“marriage with hand”).

When the student did not know the answer, the second question was asked:

“What was matrimonium sine manu (“marriage without a hand”).

When the student did not know the answer to the second question, the third question fell:

-“What is the difference between cum manu matrimonium and matrimonium sine manu?”.The “hand” was that the effects of marriage were like a full marriage.

The name “cum manu” came from the fact that when concluding, you had to make a certain gesture with your hand.

“Without a hand” consisted in the fact that the shackled were incomplete: the wife did not enter primarily under the paternal authority (patria potestas) of her husband’s father.
That was the most important difference. A bit like separation today, only from the day of the wedding.