(Lat. emancipatio), the act of set- ting free from slavery, servitude, subjection, or dependence; liberation from bondage or dependence, &c.

Emancipatio, in the Roman Law, was used in a special sense to denote an act by which the patris potestas, or the power of a father over his son, was dissolved in the lifetime of the parent. This end was effected by a certain forma- lity in the manner of a sale—whence the term was derived. In some cases, according to the law of the Twelve Tables, this ceremony was performed three times; but in others once was sufficient, as it also was in the case of a daughter or a grandchild.

By emancipation the son was put in a capacity of ma- naging his own affairs, and of marrying without his father's consent, although a minor. Emancipation differed from manumission, as the latter was the act of a master in fa- vour of a slave, whereas the former was that of a father in favour of his son.

There were two kinds of emancipation; the one tacit, which was by the son's being promoted to some dignity, by his coming of age, or by his marrying—in all which cases he became his own master of course; the other express, where the father declared before a magistrate that he emancipated his son. In performing this act, the father executed an imaginary sale of his son to another person, who was called pater fiduciarius, or father in trust; from whom the son was immediately purchased by the natural father, who thereafter manumitted him before the magis- trate by a verbal declaration. (For further details, see Smith's Dict. of Greek and Roman Antiquities.)