Μ. ΤΗ. Tantalos: Krevatostrosi and its development from Late Byzantine to Post-Byzantine law
The evolution of Byzantine and post-Byzantine customary law is not well known. An example of an institution based on customary law is krevatostrosi. Krevatostrosi is the claim of the surviving husband, provided that the couple is childless and there is no will on behalf of the deceased wife, on the bedding as a share of his spouse’s property. Its origins lie in the late Byzantine period as manifested by a few templates of notarial acts.
In the post-Byzantine period the institution of krevatostrosi can be traced in many notarial acts, usually marital agreements, originating mostly from the islands of Naxos and Andros. Krevatostrosi is also considered in decisions of the Patriarchal court regarding inheritance law. Lastly, it is also incorporated in manuals of post-Byzantine law in connection to regulations of formal Byzantine and post-Byzantine law.
In the course of the eighteenth century however, krevatostrosi in some regions, and particularly in the island of Skyros, was broadened to include not only the bedding of the marriage bed but also real estate assets, which were part of the dowry. Krevatostrosi in this broader sense, used in marital contracts, was an exception to the rule that family property should remain within the family. Krevatostrosi, in this more expansive sense, arguably served to entice the groom by making marriage more financially attractive for him.
The institution of krevatostrosi presents a fine example of how an oral custom, as is always the case, is gradually recorded, then coexists with formal law, and it is even used as a means to achieve a social purpose
