Negotiating Marriage: Artisan Women in Fifteenth-Century Florentine Society A DISSERTATION ...

307 Pages·2009·4.27 MB·English

by  Tovah Bender

Negotiating Marriage: Artisan Women in Fifteenth-Century Florentine Society

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE
SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
BY

Tovah Bender

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Ruth Mazo Karras, Kathryn L. Reyerson

July 2009
 Tovah Leigh Bender, July 2009
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I would like to thank Ms. Ann Kettle, of St. Andrews University, whose “Women
in Medieval England” class launched me into the scholarship on women in the post-
plague period; Prof. Carla Sinopoli, of the Anthropology Department at the University of
Michigan, for patiently introducing me to the nuances and possibilities of feminist
scholarship; and to Prof. Diane Owen Hughes, also at Michigan in the History
Department, who suggested to an eager but naïve undergraduate that the answers to the
questions she was trying to ask about marriage and status in fifteenth-century Florence
lay in the notarial records. I do not know if she imagined that several years later that same
student would be squinting into the first of the many notarial records that would go into
this dissertation.
I would like to thank Prof. Maryanne Kowaleski, of Fordham University’s
History Department, and Prof. Daniel Lord Smail, formerly of Fordham and now of
Harvard University, for bringing me from undergraduate- to graduate-level scholarship
while I earned my Masters. They have both continued to provide valuable guidance and
support through their written works and their personal communication.
I would like to thank my advisors at the University of Minnesota, Prof. Ruth
Mazo Karras and Prof. Kathryn Reyerson, both of whom provided me with superb
guidance, each in her own way, and often went far beyond the call of duty in helping me
navigate the hurdles of research and graduate school. They gave me the tools to finish
this project, patiently answered my questions, and let me go to it.
I would like to thank the U.S.-Italy Fulbright Commission, under the direction of
Dr. Maria Grazia Quieti, for the financial and logistical support that made my 2007-2008
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extended research period in Italy possible. I would like to thank both the Archivio di
Stato Firenze and the European University Institute, especially Prof. Anthony Molho, for
allowing me access to their resources and generally welcoming me into their scholarly
communities during my stay in Florence. I am also grateful to the Center for Early
Modern History at the University of Minnesota, and particularly to Professors William D.
and Carla Rahn Phillips, and to Associate Director Jamie Stephenson. Their support
allowed me to travel to Italy for an initial 2006 research trip to Italy, helped me to put my
time to the best use in Italy on both trips through Union Pacific Microfilm Grants. They
also oversaw the Andrew W. Mellon Dissertation Seminar in the Humanities in the
summer of 2006, which allowed for a period of research in Minneapolis. The University
of Minnesota’s Department of History provided generous support in the form of a
Headley Donovan Foundation Fellowship and funding for summer language study and
travel. The Graduate School at the University of Minnesota made possible a full year of
writing through the Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. All of these organizations foster
fellowship, in its truest sense, by providing support for the exchange of ideas between
scholars. My work has benefited immensely from this environment.
I would like to personally thank several additional members of the scholarly
community who have been particularly generous in their assistance. Although they were
working to make the most of their valuable time in Florence, their willingness to take the
time to discuss my work often provided me with just the right push or piece of
information at the right time. These individuals include: Judith Butler, Samuel K. Cohn,
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Edward English, F.W. Kent, Julius Kirshner, Christiane Klapisch-Zuber, Carol
Lansing, John Nadas, John D. Padgett, Michael Rocke, and Sharon Strocchia.
I would also like to thank a number of fellow junior scholars from across the
disciplines, among whom I found a rich community to ask and answer questions,
exchange references and suggestions, challenge one another about scholarship and
broader issues, but always remain supportive of one another. This includes: Ellen Arnold,
Clare Ashdowne, Lisa Bourla, Sarah Crabtree, Francis Fletcher III, Philip Grace, Jennifer
Haraguchi, Elizabeth Mellyn, Luis Morera, Gregory Murray, Timothy Smit, Jessie
Spressart, and Kathryn Staples. I would especially like to thank those with whom I have
met regularly over the last four years to exchange writing and ideas, encouragement and
baked goods: Polly Myers, Rachel Neiwert, Kira Robison, Aeleah Soine, Elizabeth
Swedo, and Emily Rook-Koepsel. I would not have made it without you.
Finally I would like to thank my family, for their myriad forms of support and
encouragement. My parents assisted me, told me they were proud of me, and urged me
forward, even when they did not quite understand what this was about; my brother saw
the process as a series of excellent travel opportunities for him. Finally, I dedicate this
dissertation to my grandmother, Nan Bender, who has provided assistance and
encouragement at numerous opportunities and served as an inspiration through the way
her curiosity has led to a lifetime of learning. Not only did she complete her university
degree in 1949 despite being told, a year earlier, that a married woman had no need for a
degree and should give up her place in her program, but she has constantly reminded me
that, as long as you keep your eyes open, you learn something new every day.
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Abstract
Social ties determined status, community membership, and even identity for all
fifteenth-century Florentines. The marriage formation process was one of the most
important opportunities to form social ties, not only between spouses but also with those
friends, neighbors, and patrons who served as witnesses, guardians, and providers of
dowries. This dissertation examines the process of marriage formation among Florentine
artisans, defined as members of the minor guilds and their families in the late 1420s.
The study relies on 1425-1429 notarial records of marriages, betrothals, and
dowry receipts, and on the 1427 Florentine Catasto. The narrow chronological range
makes it possible to cross-reference the two documents, thereby increasing the amount of
information available for the couples and their families. It also centers the study on a
period of transition in Florence. At this time, Florentine artisans represented a sizable and
politically active community. However, the Florentine republic was edging closer and
closer to an oligarchy, and, increasingly, artisans were politically marginalized in favor of
progressively more powerful elite factions. Artisans’ social ties—including those created
during marriage—became ever more important for a continued sense of political power.
From these sources, this dissertation makes three major points: First, although
numerous studies of elite marriage exist for Florence and their results have been held to
be representative of all Florentine society, marriage formation differed in significant
ways across the social spectrum. Second, marriage formation provided artisans with an
excellent opportunity to form and cement social bonds among themselves. This study
also highlights the central role of artisans in both tying together those at different social
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levels and providing an avenue for social mobility, however limited. A focus on
marriage also demonstrates the importance of women, particularly non-elite women, in
Florentine social networks. Third, by demonstrating the variety of marriage patterns in
Florence, and through comparison with the ever more diverse picture of marriage in
England, this dissertation argues that the established contrast between marriage patterns
in the two regions is increasingly untenable.
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Table of Contents
List of Charts vii
List of Tables viii
Abbreviations ix
Introduction 1
Chapter One: Communities, Status, and Marriage 47
Chapter Two: The Demography of Marriage 93
Chapter Three: Artisans and Community 140
Chapter Four: The Role of the Patron 190
Chapter Five: The Mediterranean Marriage Pattern Revisited 230
Conclusion 268
Bibliography 273
Appendix A: Florentine Guilds 287
Appendix B: Florentine Geographic Communities 288
Appendix C: A Key to the Players in some of the Unions Cited 291
Appendix D: Terms 295
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List of Charts
Chapter Two
2.1a Marital Status of Adult Women 106
2.1b Marital Status of Adult Men 106
2.2 Percent of the Population Never Married, by Age 112
2.3a Median Age at First Marriage for Women, by Wealth Group 127
2.3b Median Age at First Marriage for Women, by Guild Level 127
2.4 Median Age at First Marriage, for Nuclear and Non-Nuclear Relatives 129
2.5a Median Age at First Marriage for Men, by Wealth Group 131
2.5a Median Age at First Marriage for Men, by Guild Level 131
2.6a Celibacy Rates for Men, by Wealth Group 132
2.6b Celibacy Rates for Women, by Guild Level 132
2.7a Age Difference between Spouses, by Wealth Group 133
2.7b Age Difference between Spouses, by Guild Level 133
2.8 Household Position of all Men, Age 28-32 134
2.9 Household Structure of Married Men, 28-32 135
Chapter Three
3.1 Artisan Dowry Amounts, 1425-1429 146
3.2 Rates of Geographic Endogamy, 1425-1429 151
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3.3 Geographic Endogamy of Groom’s Families, by Wealth Group 153
3.4a Geographic Endogamy of Bride’s Families, by Guild Status 154
3.4b Geographic Endogamy of Groom’s Families, by Guild Status 154

Lists of Tables
Chapter Two
2.1 Mean Ages of Marriage in Florence (calculated by Herlihy and Klapisch-Zuber) 108
2.2 Relationship between Household Independence and Marital Status 121
Chapter Three
3.1 Social Movement of Brides, by Wealth Group of their Natal Families 163
3.2 Dowry Statistics and Social Mobility 171