MANUMISSION ( La t. maninnissio, from manumittere, to manumit, from matins, hand ± to send). In Roman law, the enfran chisement of a slave. In the older law (jus (4 rile), this could be accomplished: (1) Vindicta, i.e. by a fictitious action. In the later law, the forms of suit were dropped, and the master sim ply appeared before the magistrate and declared that the slave was to be set free. (2) Ccusu, i.e. by the entry of the slave's name, with the assent of the master, on the register of citizens. This form disappeared in the Imperial period. (3) Testamento, i.e. by a bequest of liberty in the master's will. When the Roman Empire became Christian, a fourth mode of manumission was recognized—munamissio in ecelesia, by declara tion of the master in the presence of priest and congregation. Informal manumissions `among friends.' or 'by letter,' were originally void; but in the later Republican period individuals thus freed were protected by the magistrates and in the Imperial period they were recognized as legally free. These informal manumissions were regulated, under Justinian, by requiring five wit nesses to prove the manumission. The right of
a master to manumit his slaves was restricted in the Imperial period. Some of the restrictions were imposed in the interest of creditors; others in the interest of the public.
By manumission the slave usually became •a citizen, but his political rights were restricted. Moreover, he remained for life in a relation of dependency; he was the 'client' of his master and of his master's children, and owed them certain semi-feudal observances and services. He and his children were also debarred from marriage with free-born persons. Consult the authorities referred to under CIVIL LAW.
Among the early Germans also the ordinary forms of manumission, by the act of the master alone, gave the freedman only a partial freedom; lie was dependent upon his former master for protection. There were, however, methods of manumission which gave the former slave the full rights of a freeman, viz. his adoption into a kinship group or into the tribe.