Denmark was one of the first countries in Europe in which the government established any regulation or control over matrimonial affairs. The body of the law on marriage and divorce is found to-day in the Code of Christian the Fifth (1683), as modified and modernized, and such customs and precedents of the Danish people as the courts accept as binding. BETROTHAL.--A betrothal or engagement to marry carries with it no legal obligation. The courts of Denmark do not recognize the breach of a promise to marry as constituting a legal cause of action. If, however, a woman, on promise of marriage, permits sexual intercourse, she can sue to have the marriage specifically performed, provided the man is at least 25 years of age and the woman herself is of good reputation and neither a widow nor a domestic servant who has become pregnant by her employer or one of his relatives. In addition, the betrothal must either have been public or capable of easy proof. QUALIFICATIONS FOR MARRIAGE.--A male cannot legally conclude marriage before the completion of his twentieth year. A female must have completed her sixteenth year. The King may grant a dispensation permitting parties of less age to marry. Males and females are minors until the completion of their twenty-fifth year, and during minority cannot conclude marriage without the consent of their parents or guardians. If the necessary consent is withheld without just cause the authorities can furnish the desired permission. IMPEDIMENTS.--Marriage is prohibited between relatives in the direct line, whether by blood or marriage, and between brothers and sisters of the whole or half blood. The royal dispensation is required for marriage between a man and his brother's widow, his aunt, great-aunt or any feminine relative nearer of kin to the common ancestor than the man himself. Persons convicted of having committed adultery with each other may not marry without having first obtained permission of the civil authorities. Persons divorced by extra-judicial decree are not allowed to contract a new marriage, without permission to this effect is given in the decree. The law prescribes a mourning period of one year for a widow and three months for a widower, during which time they are not allowed to contract a new marriage; but under special conditions the mourning period may be shortened. PRELIMINARY FORMALITIES.--If the marriage is solemnized before a clergyman banns must be published from the pulpit for three consecutive Sundays, and the marriage must follow within three months. In case of a civil marriage one publication must be made by the authorities at least three weeks and not more than three months before the celebration. CELEBRATION.--The national church of Denmark is the Lutheran, and in the case of Protestant Christians a religious marriage must be solemnized before a clergyman of the Lutheran Church.