Note 24 — BOOK V. CONCERNING BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS.

Priests and deacons, under the Visigothic ecclesiastical system, which, it must not be forgotten, was at all times practically independent of papal authority, were permitted to marry; as were their Arian predecessors. Such a union, however, was subject to certain restrictions. It could only be entered into once; the bride had to be a virgin; and where the husband was raised to a higher dignity in the Church he was compelled to, at once, repudiate his wife. The marriage itself was an impediment to promotion, as priests without families were much more sure to rise in their profession than those who had contracted marital obligations.—[Ed.]