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Father of the Bride: Fathers, Daughters, and Dowries in Late Medieval and Early Renaissance Venice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Donald E. Queller
Affiliation:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Thomas F. Madden
Affiliation:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Extract

In February 1382 Franceschina Grimani took as her husband Giacobello Trevisan, son of Stefano. A few months later, in May, another young noble girl, Franceschina Querini, married Bernardo Giustinian, son of the prosperous nobleman Orsato Giustinian. Despite the similarities shared by these two Venetian brides, one important factor separated them. Franceschina Grimani's father was Nicolò Grimani of Santa Sofia parish. According to the estimo of 1379, Nicolò's real wealth totaled approximately 30,000 ducats, making him one of the wealthiest men in Venice. In contrast, Franceschina Querini's father Marco possessed only 2,000 ducats in real wealth according to the same estimo. Despite the huge disparity between the economic fortunes of these two fathers of the bride, both of their daughters brought equal dowries of 1,000 ducats to their marriages.

Type
Studies
Copyright
Copyright © Renaissance Society of America 1993

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