Illegitimate children between testamentary law and practice in the sixteenth-century Low Countries

Ius commune denounced illegitimate children and severely restricted their
rights to receive from their father through either intestate and testamentary suc-
cession law. Since bastardy was a common phenomenon in Early Modern Europe,
it is worth comparing this theoretical attitude with actual practice. A study of sen-
tences from the Great Council of Malines illustrates the types of arguments raised
by parties in cases regarding testamentary bequests to bastards and shows that the
councillors judged with some leniency. They generally managed to balance out the
interests of both the illegitimate child and the legitimate heirs, while fulfilling the
testator’s last will as much as possible.