A Study On Marriage In Renaissance Italy

In different historical periods and cultures, marriage has diverse systems and customs. It reflects the culture changes and developments of human society. It was in Renaissance that the western society transformed from the Middle Ages to the Modern Times. The Renaissance originated in Italy. Therefore, to analyze and discuss the Italian marital status and its characteristics not only helps us construct a clear view of the social-culture transition and get a precise understanding of the essence of Renaissance, also lets us probe into the relationships between marital formation and social development.This dissertation consists of five chapters. The first chapter mainly discusses the views on marriage of Italian. With the transition and development of society, the views on marriage of the rulers and individuals changed accordingly. Nevertheless, some traditional views on marriage and gender had no fundamental changes.The second chapter mainly elaborates the martial establishment, including the choice of marital mate, age at marriage, marital rituals and so on. In Renaissance Italy, marriage was mainly arranged by parents and rarely founded on love. For the upper circles, marriage was the vital means of obtaining certain political and economical benefits. Compared with the Middle Ages, the influence of the Church on marriage was gradually reduced during this period. So the marriage in Renaissance Italy showed its secularization.The third chapter mainly reviews the Italian marriage and family lives. During this period, with the development of nuclear families, more attention paid to the private life of a family resulted in female marginalization. More importance attached to procreation further confined the female to family. Gender differences in marital life reflected the patriarchal social-culture characteristic and a low position of the female in marriage and family in Renaissance Italy. In addition, the conjugal relations began to change and the life-long companion between couples saw its progress.The forth chapter mainly discusses the dowry which was an important family property, including its sources and the ways in which people distributed it. Among contemporary European countries, the dowry system was most stable in Renaissance Italy. The dowry not only provided the essential economic security for the female, but also played an important role in connecting women with their families of birth and marriage. From these we can probe into the criterion with which people distributed their family property and interpersonal relations behind that.Through discussing the reactions of the couple or spouse, the ecclesiastical and secular authority to marital dissolution and remarriage, the fifth chapter illustrates the efforts made by people to change their marital status and the revival power on marital affairs imposed by the Church.In a word, just like this transitional era itself, the Italian marital formation had the transitional characteristic as well. It has qualities of succession, continuity, variability and specialty. Generally speaking, the traditional ideas on marriage and gender inequality were still deeply rooted, thus the marriage in Renaissance Italy was far from the objects of gender equality and rationality in martial relationships.