Dr Lydia Goodson, art historian and lecturer specializing in material culture in Renaissance Italy gave us a delightful talk about the “business” of marriage and the exchange of courtship gifts in 15th Century Perugia.
For the propertied classes, marriages were of economic and political significance: it was an expensive and protracted business negotiation. The objects exchanged signified wealth and imagery, love did not come into it. Fathers started saving from the birth of their daughters for their dowry. The reason for this was that the plague had decimated the population of Perugia from 120,000 to 40,000. Those who made a fortune in the subsequent years were keen to ensure their progeny and cement their position in society by demonstrating their wealth and marrying into the aristocracy.
Illustrating her lecture with the marriage of Caterina Strozzi to rich silk merchant Marco Parenti in 1448, Lydia described the process of the marriage agreements, starting with the marriage broker, then the deed of agreement recorded by a lawyer, which emphasized the importance of producing children, as it was imperative to continue the family line – and finally the exchange of a ring. The church did not get involved in weddings until the 16th century.
Female beauty was extremely important as it represented virtue, and it was thought that outer beauty reflected inner virtue. The gifts to the bride emphasized this beauty and her being suitable for bearing children. “Virtue makes a woman beautiful” the saying went. Love could be brought about instantaneously by the beauty of the woman who could overcome men with it and cause them to fall helplessly in love. Such gifts
incorporated all the customs and beliefs of the period leading up to the marriage. The connection being that some form of love was essential for the future of the family, that is children, hiding the fact that it was much more of a business arrangement.
The marriage agreement marked the start of a lot of expenditure as Caterina’s dowry represented her wealth. Of particular note were a girdle which was associated with fertility, a set of coral beads which
represented protection against the loss of blood and a set of extremely beautiful and expensive clothes all of which were to go with her to her husband’s home in a lavish wedding chest called a “Cassone”. The dowry was exchanged at the moment of marriage when Marco had to provide a counter dowry. The lavish wedding feast would several days.
Liz Beecheno