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But there's another important feature of Venetian dowries
威尼斯人的嫁妆有其他重要的特点
Dowry inflation may have impoverished patrician families
嫁妆的飞涨可能使贵族家庭赤贫
But it enriched patrician women
但却令贵族女性成为富婆
The reason is that dowries were the property of the wives who brought them to the marriage
因为嫁妆是妻子的财产被带到夫家
The principle derived from Roman law was that the dowry was a daughter's inheritance
罗马法衍生出的法则规定嫁妆作为女人的遗产
to be used as her contribution to the well-being of her new family
是为夫家福利做出的贡献
It was to be administered by her husband
由丈夫管理
But only until the marriage ended with the death of one of the spouses
当一方先亡而婚姻结束
Then it reverted to her
便重新由女人支配
Or if she pre-deceased her husband to heirs she could freely choose in her will
又或者女人比丈夫早逝，她可以在遗嘱中自主选择继承人
Let's think for a moment about the long narrative of a marriage between its contracting
可以想象到漫长的婚姻始于双方订立婚约
And the death of either husband or wife
终止于一方的死亡
And by the way 85% of the time it was the husband who died first
另外85%的婚姻中丈夫往往先卒
One obvious reason is the age difference between bride and groom
原因之一显然是男女之间的年龄差
Usually 12 to 15 years
通常是12到15年
In the 15th century the median preferred marriage age for brides was 16 years, for men it was 30
15世纪女人的婚龄趋向于16岁，男人则是30岁
That meant that bridegrooms usually began marriage with some governmental and economic experience
意味着男人在结婚时已经有参与政务和经济活动的经验
They were members of the adult male patriciate
已进入成年男性贵族圈
Brides on the other hand were utterly lacking experience
另一方面新娘则完全缺乏经验
They entered their marriages usually without knowing the men they were marrying
结婚时新娘通常未见过新郎
following a childhood or early adolescence sequestered at home or in a convent
新娘的童年与早期的青春期在封闭的家中或修道院度过
out of the public eye and harm's way
远离公众视线，免受伤害
Except when they went to church and then always chaperoned
除了去教堂之外，其他时间总有人伴随
So the arrangement of a marriage rarely included any direct participation of the bride
因此筹办她们的婚事几乎不需要她们参与
When the formal contracting took place brides were often as recorded as stating
在办理正式手续时，新娘通常是这样被登记的
That they freely accepted the husband chosen for them
她们自愿接受为其选定的丈夫人选
Free consent of course was a requirement for a valid marriage according to church law
当然，出于自主意愿是婚约生效的基础，这是教会法规定的
But we can imagine the pressures on a 16 year old girl
但可以试想一个16岁少女是在压力迫使之下
to accede to the wishes of the adults surrounding her when the contracting took place
同意身边大人们的意愿来缔结婚姻的契约
Consider the contrast between these young brides adult mothers rearing their children and widowed grandmothers
思考年轻新娘和育有儿女的母亲与守寡的祖母间的对比
all three groups fit into the category of married women
这三种人组成已婚妇女这一群体
But there are vast differences between them
但三者之间有区别
And that brings up what I like to call the euchsorial cycle
我将此构成称为euchsorial周期
The arc of experience followed from youthful bridehood to mature wife and motherhood to widowhood
人生从年轻的新娘成长为成熟的妻子和母亲，慢慢经历直至成为寡妇
In the course of that cycle the meanings of marriage love and lineage
在这一周期中，婚姻，爱情和血统的意义
shifted and evolved in the life of a married couple
在每对夫妇的生活中转变演化
And especially of a married woman
对已婚妇女来说尤其如此
It's hard to believe that there was much love in bloom at the contracting
很难想象一个足不出户的少女
when a sheltered young girl first laid eyes on the man that had been chosen for her
会在见到婚约一方的新郎第一眼时便对其产生深刻的情感
Venetians nobles married their daughters young for two main reasons
威尼斯贵族把这么小的女儿嫁掉有两个原因
To as early a start as possible in the quest for a suitable husband
要想觅得良夫越早越好
And to give prospective husbands reasonable assurance that the brides would enter the marriage unsullied
也为了让准丈夫相信新娘是一个黄花闺女
