This law shall also apply to women; for instance, where any virgin or widow, as a penitent lays aside the clothing of the laity, and afterwards resumes it; or marries; she shall undergo the same penalty and loss of property as has been decreed concerning men, to wit: the children and heirs of such a woman shall have her property. The relatives of a husband, however, shall be entitled to any gift previously presented by him to his wife. And, since women are more frequently involved in the fraud of apostasy, we hereby decree that whatever should be given by a man to his betrothed, or to his wife, before or after the nuptials, by way of dowry, shall belong, not to the heirs of the wife, but to the heirs of him who gave the dowry. Persons guilty of such offences shall not have the right to accuse any one, or to testify, or to transact any business whatever in court; because those cannot be trusted in secular matters, who have been proved guilty of sacrilege in affairs relating to our Holy Religion. =FLAVIUS EGICA, KING.= =IV. Concerning the Restraint of Fraud Peculiar to Widows.= Certain widows are accustomed to shrewdly mingle fraud with devotion, and, by the union of religious and secular garments, give themselves an opportunity for transgression at their will. Thus, during the time of their mourning, they put on a religious dress; and, afterwards, for purposes of deception, put on other garments under the religious habit; and for this reason, to those who see them, appear other than what they are. Wherefore, that an end may be put to fraud of this kind, we decree, by this law, that hereafter, when any widow wishes to excuse herself for practising this deception, that within she wears one kind of dress, and outside another; that portion which is visible, and which she has assumed for purposes of duplicity, shall be considered as designating her as a member of a religious order; and thus, not what she has adopted for the commission of sin, but what the eyes of every one perceive, is to be accepted as the sign of her religious profession. Any widow who, hereafter, attempts to excuse herself in this way, shall not only be subject to the penalties of the law, but shall also undergo the punishment prescribed by the canons of the Church, and shall not escape the justice of the king. =FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING.= =V. Concerning Pederasty.= That crime must not be unpunished which, in the violation of morality, has always been considered most execrable; we therefore decree, in cases of pederasty, where their guilt has been proved after proper investigation by the judge, that both parties shall be emasculated without delay, and be delivered up to the bishop of the diocese where the deed was committed, to be placed in solitary confinement in a prison; so that, against their will, they may expiate the crime which they are convicted of having voluntarily perpetrated.