Marriage was an extremely
significant factor during the time of the Italian Renaissance. Rather than a true profession of love
between a man and a woman, it was more of a negotiation that resulted in a
transfer of property and a possible change in social status. According to Brucker’s primary source
the father would arrange the marriage and almost “haggle” with the other on the
subject of dowry money. The
ceremony itself was a highly public affair, celebrated lavishly so as to insure
that neither family would end up indebted to the other, through dowry dues or
otherwise. In class we didn’t
really go over the marriage process in great detail, and after some research I
found that there are four specific steps a couple must take in order for their
marriage to be considered secure:
the impalamamento, the sponsalia, the matrimonium, and the nozze. All had to be carried out or the bond
was not considered undoubtedly true.
The impalmamento was the initial
meeting of couple’s fathers and a few other select family members. They basically discussed the basics of
the future union and if they were successful in their negotiations, a marriage
contract was officially sealed with the help of a marriage broker. The next stage was the sponsalia, which
was a meeting of all the male members of the two families. They discussed things like dowry money
and other payment arrangements.
Because one family could become indebted to the other, a marriage hardly
ever made a large jump in social status. One interesting aspect about the sponsalia is that the father
had to gain consent from the bride or the marriage wouldn’t be able to
happen. I think it’s great that
the woman at least had some say in her marriage, even though it was already
arranged for her.
Ceremonial marriage belt
Matrimonium was the third
step. The future bride and groom
had to be asked multiple questions that were required by the Church so as to be
truly verified in their union.
After this medieval game of twenty questions the vows would finally be
exchanged and the groom would then place the ring on his bride’s finger. A unique custom for this marriage
process was the giving of a bridal belt on the wedding day. Pictured above, it was given as an ode
to the god Vulcan giving such an item to the goddess Venus, and was meant to
inspire love. The final step of
marriage was the nozze, which basically publicized the now-official
marriage. A procession was held in
which the bride, beautifully clothed and adorned with a wedding crown, was led
to her new husband’s house. It’s
so amazing that the Italians back then took so much pride and care when
planning a wedding, right down to the smallest detail. This flamboyant and ritualistic four-step
idea truly embodies the life of the Renaissance period.
Sources:
The Society of Renaissance Florence, Brucker
http://insanehobby.150m.com/clare/weddings.html
this is very interesting! In some ways, the lavish marriage during the Renaissance were similar to some of todays high profile marriages. I wonder if these expensive marriages had large receptions afterwards like todays society?
ReplyDeleteThank you for that really detailed post. It was really interesting to read!
ReplyDeleteJacob, yes I think they had these receptions. We one had an image in class that showed a large reception. So, I can imagine it was quite common in wealthier families to have a big celebration afterwards (at least if it was not the third or fourth wife of the man, because one source in Brucker mentioned that the wedding was quite unspectacular then).