Monte delle doti

Last updated April 25, 2019

Monte delle doti was a public fund established by the government of the Republic of Florence in 1425. Its purpose was to provide suitable dowries to Florentine brides.

The Republic of Florence, also known as the Florentine Republic, was a medieval and early modern state that was centered on the Italian city of Florence in Tuscany. The republic originated in 1115, when the Florentine people rebelled against the Margraviate of Tuscany upon the death of Matilda of Tuscany, a woman who controlled vast territories that included Florence. The Florentines formed a commune in her successors' place. The republic was ruled by a council known as the Signoria of Florence. The signoria was chosen by the gonfaloniere, who was elected every two months by Florentine guild members.

A dowry is a transfer of parental property, gifts or money at the marriage of a daughter. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment by the groom or his family to the bride's parents, dowry is the wealth transferred from the bride's family to the groom or his family, ostensibly for the bride. Similarly, dower is the property settled on the bride herself, by the groom at the time of marriage, and which remains under her ownership and control. Dowry is an ancient custom, and its existence may well predate records of it. Dowries continue to be expected and demanded as a condition to accept a marriage proposal in some parts of the world, mainly in parts of Asia, Northern Africa and the Balkans. In some parts of the world, disputes related to dowry sometimes result in acts of violence against women, including killings and acid attacks. The custom of dowry is most common in cultures that are strongly patrilineal and that expect women to reside with or near their husband's family (patrilocality). Dowries have long histories in Europe, South Asia, Africa and other parts of the world.

Background and arrangement

In medieval Italy, the size of the bride's dowry reflected her family's social status, making it increasingly more desirable to provide dowries as large as possible. In the decades following the Black Death the decline in population and consequent decrease in the number of eligible bachelors led to heightened competition among families for good husbands for their daughters; this led to an inflation in the value of dowries. Due to this trend, marrying off a daughter was a financial burden to a Florentine citizen, leading many fathers in the early 15th century Florence to decide not to arrange marriages for their daughters. In order to prevent serious demographic problems and promiscuity (as well as bring a much-needed injection of funds into the communal treasury, which had been severely depleted by a succession of costly wars with neighbouring states^[2]), the state came up with Monte delle doti. When a girl was on average about five years old, her father made the first payment into the fund. The deposit matured and the fund accrued at a guaranteed 11 to 12 per cent interest rate. The terms were fixed at seven and a half or fifteen years. Investing in the Monte delle doti was meant to prevent the impoverishment of the family by avoiding excessive dowries.^[3]

The Black Death, also known as the Great Plague or the Plague, or less commonly the Black Plague, was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people in Eurasia and peaking in Europe from 1347 to 1351. The bacterium Yersinia pestis, which results in several forms of plague, is believed to have been the cause. The Black Death was the first major European outbreak of plague, and the second plague pandemic. The plague created a number of religious, social and economic upheavals which had profound effects on the course of European history.

A deposit is the act of placing cash with some entity, most commonly with a financial institution such as a bank.

Interest rate percentage of a sum of money charged for its use

An interest rate is the amount of interest due per period, as a proportion of the amount lent, deposited or borrowed. The total interest on an amount lent or borrowed depends on the principal sum, the interest rate, the compounding frequency, and the length of time over which it is lent, deposited or borrowed.

History

At first, investing into the fund involved risk: if the girl died before marriage, the deposit could not be claimed back, and sometimes it turned out to be insolvent. There were only two depositors in the year of the fund's establishment and none between 1426 and 1429. The institution only became successful in 1433, however, when the minimum deposit period was lowered to five years and when fathers were allowed to retrieve their capital in the event of their unmarried daughter's death. The establishment of the fund also led to the abandonment of the tradition of paying the dowry on the day of the wedding. The regulations of Monte delle doti allowed the payment of the dowry only once the marriage had been consummated. This, in turn, led to a new tradition - namely, consummating the marriage at the bride's family home right after the exchange of the rings, enabling the groom to claim the dowry before taking his bride to his home.^[1]

Insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the money owed, by a person or company, on time; those in a state of insolvency are said to be insolvent. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet insolvency.

In many traditions and statutes of civil or religious law, the consummation of a marriage, often called simply consummation, is the first act of sexual intercourse between two people, either following their marriage to each other or after a prolonged romantic attraction. The definition of consummation usually refers to penile-vaginal sexual penetration, but some religious doctrines hold that there is an additional requirement that there must not be any contraception used.

Female sexuality

Female sexuality was the basic premise of the legislation that enabled the fund, which said that the government was "determined to shore up the frailty of the female sex" and that, "provided with dowries, however small, women will be certain to lead virtuous and praiseworthy lives". Only five years earlier, the government of the Republic of Venice introduced a law limiting the size of dowries in order to spare families of the "shame and danger" of having single adult daughters living with them.^[4]

Human female sexuality encompasses a broad range of behaviors and processes, including female sexual identity and sexual behavior, the physiological, psychological, social, cultural, political, and spiritual or religious aspects of sexual activity. Various aspects and dimensions of female sexuality, as a part of human sexuality, have also been addressed by principles of ethics, morality, and theology. In almost any historical era and culture, the arts, including literary and visual arts, as well as popular culture, present a substantial portion of a given society's views on human sexuality, which include both implicit (covert) and explicit (overt) aspects and manifestations of feminine sexuality and behavior.

The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic, traditionally known as La Serenissima was a sovereign state and maritime republic in northeastern Italy, which existed for over a millennium between the 7th century and the 18th century from 697 AD until 1797 AD. It was based in the lagoon communities of the historically prosperous city of Venice, and was a leading European economic and trading power during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

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Bride price, bridewealth, or bride token, is money, property, or other form of wealth paid by a groom or his family to the family of the woman he will be married to or is just about to marry. Bride price can be compared to dowry, which is paid to the groom, or used by the bride to help establish the new household, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. Some cultures may practice both dowry and bride price simultaneously. Many cultures practiced bride pricing prior to existing records.

References

1 2 Hall, Edwin (1994). The Arnolfini Betrothal: Medieval Marriage and the Enigma of Van Eyck's Double Portrait. University of California Press. ISBN 0520212215.
↑ Najemy, John M. (2006). A History of Florence 1200-1575. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 978-1405119542.
↑ Franklin, Margaret-Ann (2006). Boccaccio's Heroines: Power And Virtue in Renaissance Society. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 0754653641.
↑ Chojnacki, Stanley (2000). Women and Men in Renaissance Venice: Twelve Essays on Patrician Society. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0801863953.

Bibliography

Molho, Anthony (1994) Marriage Alliance in Late Medieval Florence. Harvard Historical Studies 114. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.

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[Hall-1] 1 2 Hall, Edwin (1994). The Arnolfini Betrothal: Medieval Marriage and the Enigma of Van Eyck's Double Portrait. University of California Press. ISBN 0520212215.

[Najemy-2] Najemy, John M. (2006). A History of Florence 1200-1575. Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 978-1405119542.

[Franklin-3] Franklin, Margaret-Ann (2006). Boccaccio's Heroines: Power And Virtue in Renaissance Society. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 0754653641.

[Stanley-4] Chojnacki, Stanley (2000). Women and Men in Renaissance Venice: Twelve Essays on Patrician Society. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0801863953.