[387] Gratian, _Dist_., 34, c. 4--Friedberg, i, p. 126. Id., _Causa_, 29, _Quaest_. 1--Friedberg, i, p. 1092. Id., _Causa_, 29, _Quaest_. 2, c. 2. [388] Id., _Causa_, 29, _Quaest_. 2, c. 1 and 8. [389] "Divorce," by James Cardinal Gibbons, in the _Century_, May, 1909. [390] For this and what immediately follows see _Session_ 24 of the Council of Trent "On the Sacrament of Matrimony" and also the Catholic Encyclopedia under "Divorce." [391] Gratian, _Causa_ 28, _Quaest_. i, c. 5--Friedberg, i, pp. 1080-1081. Licite dimittitur uxor que virum suum cogere querit ad malum. Idolatria, quam secuntur infideles, et quelibet noxia superstitio fornicatio est. Dominus autem permisit causa fornicationis uxorem dimitti. Sed quia dimisit et non iussit, dedit Apostolo locum monendi, ut qui voluerit non dimittat uxorem infidelem, quo sic fortassis possit fidelis fieri. Si infidelitas fornicatio est, et idolatria infidelitas, et avaritia idolatria, non est dubitandum et avaritiam fornicationem esse. Quis ergo iam quamlibet illicitam concupiscentiam potest recte a fornicationis genere separate, si avaritia fornicatio est? [392] Friedberg, ii, pp. 782 and 783: Quum enim secundum legitimas sanctiones, etc. Lea, in his _History of Confession and Indulgences_, ii, p. 87, quotes Zanchini, _Tract. de Haeret., cap. 33_, to the effect that goods of a heretic were confiscated and disabilities inflicted on two generations of descendants. CHAPTER VII HISTORY OF WOMEN'S RIGHTS IN ENGLAND Since I have now given a brief summary of the canon law, which until the Reformation marked the general principles that guided the laws of all Europe on the subject of women, I propose next to consider more particularly the history of women's rights in England; for the institutions of England, being the basis of our own, will necessarily be more pertinent to us than those of Continental countries, to which I shall not devote more than a passing comment here and there. My inquiry will naturally fall into certain well-defined parts. The status of the unmarried woman is different from that of her married sister and will, accordingly, demand separate consideration. The rights of women, again, are to be viewed both from the legal and the social standpoint. Their legal rights include those of a private nature, such as the disposal of property, and public rights, such as suffrage, sitting on a jury, or holding office. Under social rights are included the right to an education, to earn a living, and the like. Let us glance first at the history of the legal rights of single women. [Sidenote: Single women: Pollock and Maitland i, pp. 482-485.] From very early times the law has continued to put the single woman of mature age on practically a par with men so far as private single rights are concerned. She could hold land, make a will or contract, could sue and be sued, all of her own initiative; she needed no guardian. She could herself, if a widow, be guardian of her own children.