Tutela mulierum and its different categories

Abstract

The tutela mulierum is an institution of archaic nature, a reflection of the ancient Roman family structure,
since it supported its foundation and reason of being in a purely patriarchal system. It was established as an
institute of patrimonial protection on the woman, since she could not, due to her levitas animi, have the
same negotiation capacity as a man. The woman not only had to be submitted under the potestas of the
paterfamilias and the manus of her husband, but the Roman legal system designed an institution so that
they had to be submitted perpetually. For this reason, they created different typologies of tutela mulierum:
testamentary, legitimate and dative.