Sans gens, ni genus? Configurations coutumières, reconfigurations pratiques de la condition de l'enfant illégitime (XIIe-XVe siècles)

Abstract

Without gens nor genus? Customary and practical configurations of illegitimate condition (12th-15th centuries) In the field of law, the legal scope of a family community is determined by the ability to inherit. This right is linked to the only legitimate relationship: marriage. The distinction between "oirs loiaux" and "bastard" is based on the parents\u27 marital status. First and foremost, the link between the bastard and his heritage that he theoretically cannot claim for, but also the link between this heritage and his own children born in "loial marriage" will be studied in order to analyze customary configurations when an illegitimate child is part of a family. Then, we will consider how the family can be reconfigured considering judicial constraints and testamentary opportunities. The illegitimate child is integrated into the daily life of his real parents. He may have been "given" or "fed". However and paradoxically, it differs from the rest of the siblings by a form of denial of his carnal link with his parents. Uprooted by custom, without gens or genus, but without a lack of affiliation and without being fatherless, the bastard seems to be disembodied in most speeches