The Pillars of the Marriage Contract and Their Number
What are the pillars without which a marriage contract does not stand, how many are there, and what counts as a pillar rather than a condition of validity?
The pillar of marriage is one alone: offer and acceptance. Everything else — the two witnesses, the guardian — is a condition of validity, not a pillar; a pillar is part of the contract's very substance, whereas a condition lies outside it.
The pillars of marriage are five: the guardian, the dower, the husband, the wife, and the formula. Witnessing is a condition for consummation, not for the contract's conclusion, so the contract is valid without witnesses while consummation is withheld until witnesses are present.
The pillars of marriage are five: the formula, the husband, the wife, the guardian, and two upright witnesses. Witnessing here is a pillar within the contract itself rather than a condition outside it, so no marriage is concluded except in the presence of two upright witnesses.
The pillars of marriage are three: the two spouses free of impediments, the offer, and the acceptance. The guardian and the witnesses are conditions of validity, not pillars.