manumitter

A trust of manumission makes the slave the freedman, not of the testator, though he may have been his owner, but of the manumitter, whereas a direct bequest of liberty makes a slave the freedman of the testator, whence too he is called 'orcinus.'

The Institutes of Justinian John Baron Moyle 1891

Freedom, in whose behalf even the ancient legislators clearly established many rules at variance with the general principles of law, will be actually acquired by the slave; the manumitter will have the pleasure of seeing the benefit of his kindness undisturbed; while the other joint owner, by receiving a money equivalent proportionate to his interest, and on the scale which we have fixed, will be indemnified against all loss.

The Institutes of Justinian John Baron Moyle 1891

Its effect was to prefer to the extraneous manumitter the ten persons specified above; but our constitution, which we have made concerning the emancipation of children, has in all cases made the parent implicitly the manumitter, as previously under a fiduciary contract, and has attached this privilege to every such manumission, so as to render superfluous the aforesaid kind of possession of goods.

The Institutes of Justinian John Baron Moyle 1891

Consequently, we understand a gift of liberty to be avoided only when the creditors are defrauded both by the intention of the manumitter, and in fact: that is to say, by his property being insufficient to meet their claims.

The Institutes of Justinian John Baron Moyle 1891

It is, however, now settled law, that the gift of liberty is not avoided unless the intention of the manumitter was fraudulent, even though his property is in fact insufficient to meet his creditors 'claims; for men often hope and believe that they are better off than they really are.

The Institutes of Justinian John Baron Moyle 1891

The fourth degree of possession is that given to the nearest cognates: the fifth is that called tum quam ex familia: the sixth, that given to the patron and patroness, their children and parents: the seventh, that given to the husband or wife of the deceased: the eighth, that given to cognates of the manumitter.

The Institutes of Justinian John Baron Moyle 1891

In addition to this new law, and the consul's edict enforcing it, a resolution was passed by the senate ordering that whenever any one of them was manumitted and publicly declared to be free, the dictator, consul, interrex, censor or praetor for the time being should put the manumitter on his oath that he was not doing it for the purpose of altering his citizenship; in case he refused to take the oath the senate would declare the manumission invalid.

The History of Rome, Vol. VI 1905

This last and lowest class, however, has long ceased to exist, and the title of Latin also had become rare: and so in our goodness, which desires to raise and improve in every matter, we have amended this in two constitutions, and reintroduced the earlier usage; for in the earliest infancy of Rome there was but one simple type of liberty, namely that possessed by the manumitter, the only distinction possible being that the latter was free born, while the manumitted slave became a freedman.

The Institutes of Justinian John Baron Moyle 1891

But as this rule was very bad as a precedent -- for both the slave was cheated of his liberty, and the kinder masters suffered all the loss while the harsher ones reaped all the gain -- we have deemed it necessary to suppress a usage which seemed so odious, and have by our constitution provided a merciful remedy, by discovering a means by which the manumitter, the other joint owner, and the liberated slave, may all alike be benefited.

The Institutes of Justinian John Baron Moyle 1891

If the bishop bestows upon any deserving slaves of the Church their liberty, let the liberty that has been conferred be respected by his successors, together with that which the manumitter gave them when they were freed; and we command them to hold twenty solidi in value in fields, vineyards, and dwellings; what shall have been given more the Church shall reclaim after the death of the one who manumitted. (

A Source Book for Ancient Church History Joseph Cullen Ayer 1905