Concubinage

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"Concubine" redirects here. For other uses, see Concubine
(disambiguation).
Hagar and Ishmael in the Desert by François-Joseph Navez, 1820. Hagar was
Abraham's Egyptian concubine. Ishmael was their first-born son according to the
Bible.

Relationships
(Outline)
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Types
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• ◦ Kinship Family Parent
father mother Grandparent Sibling
Cousin
By marriage
• ◦ Spouse Husband Wife
Open marriage
• ◦ Polygamy Polyandry
Polygyny
• ◦ Group marriage Mixed-
orientation
Partner(s)
• Significant other Boyfriend Girlfriend
Cohabitation Same-sex Life partner
Friendship (romantic / cross-sex /
zone)
Sexual
• Casual Monogamy Non-monogamy
Mutual monogamy Polyamory
Polyfidelity
• Cicisbeo Concubinage Courtesan
Mistress
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Activities
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Endings
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Emotions and feelings
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Practices
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Abuse
 show
Endings
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Emotions and feelings
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Practices
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Abuse

• vte
Concubinage (/kənˈkjuːbɪnɪdʒ/ kəng-KYOO-bih-nij) is an interpersonal and
sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does
not want to or cannot enter into a full marriage.[1] When there is an inability
or social discouragement for the couple to marry, it may be due to multiple
factors such as differences in social rank status, an existing marriage,
religious or professional prohibitions, or a lack of recognition by appropriate
authorities.
The term comes from Latin concubinatus,[2] the institution in ancient Rome
that regulated the cohabitation of free citizens who did not want to enter
into a marriage, similarly to modern day civil unions. From this traditional
meaning found in Roman law comes the contemporary usage of
concubinage as a synonym for civil union, used in legal contexts. In some
countries, such as France, concubinage is the official name given by the
law to civil unions.[3]
Concubinage has existed in all cultures, though the prevalence of
concubinage and the rights and expectations of the persons involved have
varied somewhat, as have the rights of the offspring born from such
relationships. A relationship of concubinage can take place voluntarily, due
to the lack of the parties involved to enter into a full marriage, or
involuntarily (e.g. slavery).[1] In slave owning societies, most concubines
were slaves,[4][dubious – discuss] often called "slave concubines". Such
concubinage was practiced in patriarchal cultures throughout history.[5]
Whatever the status and rights of the persons involved, they are always
inferior to those of a legitimate spouse, and typically the rights of
inheritance are limited or excluded.
In the past, the woman involved in a concubinage was referred to as a
concubine (/ˈkɒŋkjʊˌbaɪn/ KONG-kyoo-bine), while the man simply as
"lover" or "patron" (depending on the asymmetry of the couple). Especially
among royalty and nobility, the woman in such relationships was commonly
described as a mistress. In present-day English, the term "concubine"
typically refers either to a sex slave or a mistress.[6]
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External linksAncient Near East[edit]
Mesopotamia[edit]
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(September 2020)
In Mesopotamia, it was customary for a sterile wife to give her husband a
slave as a concubine to bear children. The status of such concubines was
ambiguous, they normally could not be sold but they remained the slave of
the wife.[7] However, in the late Babylonian period, there are reports that
concubines could be sold.[7]
Assyria[edit]
Old Assyrian Period (20th–18th centuries BC)
In general, marriage was monogamous.[a] "If after two or three years of
marriage the wife had not given birth to any children, the husband was
allowed to buy a slave (who could also be chosen by the wife) in order to
produce heirs. This woman, however, remained a slave and never gained
the status of a second wife."[8]
Middle Assyrian Period (14th–11th centuries BC)
In the Middle Assyrian Period, the main wife (assatu) wore a veil in the
street, as could a concubine (esirtu) if she were accompanying the main
wife, or if she were married.[9][10] "If a man veils his concubine in public, by
declaring 'she is my wife,' this woman shall be his wife."[9] It was illegal for
unmarried women, prostitutes and slave women to wear a veil in the street.
[9]
"The children of a concubine were lower in rank than the descendants of
a wife, but they could inherit if the marriage of the latter remained
childless."[9]
Egypt[edit]
Ushabti of a concubine, with a naked body, jewelry underlying the breasts, and
shaved pubis with visible vulva, wearing a heavy wig with erotic implications (painted
wood, 2050–1710 BC)
While most Ancient Egyptians were monogamous, a male pharaoh would
have had other, lesser wives and concubines in addition to the Great Royal
Wife. This arrangement would allow the pharaoh to enter into diplomatic
marriages with the daughters of allies, as was the custom of ancient kings.
[11]
Concubinage was a common occupation for women in ancient Egypt,
especially for talented women. A request for forty concubines by
Amenhotep III (c. 1386-1353 BCE) to a man named Milkilu, Prince of Gezer
states:
"Behold, I have sent you Hanya, the commissioner of the archers, with
merchandise in order to have beautiful concubines, i.e. weavers. Silver,
gold, garments, all sort of precious stones, chairs of ebony, as well as all
good things, worth 160 deben. In total: forty concubines – the price of every
concubine is forty of silver. Therefore, send very beautiful concubines
without blemish." – (Lewis, 146)[12]
Concubines would be kept in the pharaoh's harem. Amenhotep III kept his
concubines in his palace at Malkata, which was one of the most opulent in
the history of Egypt. The king was considered to be deserving of many
women as long as he cared for his Great Royal Wife as well.[12]
In Europe[edit]
Ancient Greece[edit]
Main article: Pallake
See also: Hetaira
In Ancient Greece the practice of keeping a concubine (Ancient Greek:
παλλακίς pallakís) was common among the upper classes, and they were
for the most part women who were slaves or foreigners, but occasional free
born based on family arrangements (typically from poor families).[13]
Children produced by slaves remained slaves and those by non-slave
concubines varied over time; sometimes they had the possibility of
citizenship.[14] The law prescribed that a man could kill another man caught
attempting a relationship with his concubine.[15] By the mid 4th century
concubines could inherit property, but, like wives, they were treated as
sexual property.[16] While references to the sexual exploitation of
maidservants appear in literature, it was considered disgraceful for a man
to keep such women under the same roof as his wife.[17] Apollodorus of
Acharnae said that hetaera were concubines when they had a permanent
relationship with a single man, but nonetheless used the two terms
interchangeably.[18]
Ancient Rome[edit]
Main articles: Concubinatus and Contubernium
See also: Marriage in ancient Rome
A concubinatus (Latin for "concubinage" – see also concubina,
"concubine", considered milder than paelex, and concubinus, "bridegroom")
was an institution of quasi-marriage between Roman citizens who for
various reasons did not want to enter into a full marriage.[2][19] The
institution was often found in unbalanced couples, where one of the
members belonged to a higher social class or where one of the two was
freed and the other one was freeborn.[20] However it differed from a
contubernium, where at least one of the partners was a slave.[21][22]
The relationship between a free citizen and a slave or between slaves was
known as contubernium.[21] The term describes a wide range of situations,
from simple sexual slavery to quasi-marriage. For instance, according to
Suetonius, Caenis, a slave and secretary of Antonia Minor, was
Vespasian's wife "in all but name", until her death in AD 74. It was also not
uncommon for slaves to create family-like unions, allowed but not protected
by the law. The law allowed a slave-owner to free the slave and enter into a
concubinatus or a regular marriage.[23]
Vikings[edit]
Polygyny was common among Vikings, and rich and powerful Viking men
tended to have many wives and concubines. Viking men would often buy or
capture women and make them into their wives or concubines.[24][25]
Concubinage for Vikings was connected to slavery; the Vikings took both
free women and slaves as concubines.[24] Researchers have suggested
that Vikings may have originally started sailing and raiding due to a need to
seek out women from foreign lands.[26][27][28][29] Polygynous relationships
in Viking society may have led to a shortage of eligible women for the
average male; polygyny increases male-male competition in society
because it creates a pool of unmarried men willing to engage in risky
status-elevating and sex-seeking behaviors.[30][31] Thus, the average
Viking man could have been forced to perform riskier actions to gain wealth
and power to be able to find suitable women.[32][33][34] The concept was
expressed in the 11th century by historian Dudo of Saint-Quentin in his
semi imaginary History of The Normans.[35] The Annals of Ulster depicts
raptio and states that in 821 the Vikings plundered an Irish village and
"carried off a great number of women into captivity".[36]
Early Christianity and Feudalism[edit]
The ideology established by Patristic writers largely promoted marriage as
the only form of union between men and women. Both Saint Augustine and
Saint Jerome strongly condemned the institution of concubinage. In parallel
though, the late imperial Roman law improved the rights of the classical
Roman concubinatus, reaching the point, with the Corpus Iuris Civilis by
Justinian, of extending inheritance laws to these unions.[37]
The two views, Christian condemnation and secular continuity with the
Roman legal system, continued to be in conflict throughout the entire
Middle Age, until in the 14th and 15th centuries the Church outlawed
concubinage in the territories under its control.[37]
Spain[edit]
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(September 2020)

From the Age of Enlightenment until today[edit]

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You can help by adding to it.
(September 2020)

Asia[edit]
Concubinage was highly popular before the early 20th century all over East
Asia. The main function of concubinage was producing additional heirs, as
well as bringing males pleasure. Children of concubines had lower rights in
account to inheritance, which was regulated by the Dishu system.
In places like China and the Muslim world, the concubine of a king could
achieve power, especially if her son also became a monarch.[4]