評論
打印
I want to spend the rest of the talk on
剩下的時間，我會講解
how the anomalous status of women inflected their place in the patriciate the patriciate's lineage structure
女性這一反常的處境怎樣改變她們在貴族階級中的地位和貴族階層的家族結構
And beyond that women's status modulated the lineage attitudes of their men folk as well
以及女性的處境如何改變男性親屬家族的地位
It all began with the patriciate's marriage practices
這要從貴族的婚姻實踐說起
Arranging its children's marriage was the most important enterprise a noble family engaged in
兒女們的婚姻大事是每個貴族家庭的頭等大事
A new son and brother in law
新成員，無論是女婿還是姐夫
could enlarge the circle of a family's potential business associates and political allies
能夠擴展家族潛在的事業伙伴和政治同盟
and sometimes could enhance its social prestige
有時能增強其社會聲望
The same thing was true of daughters in law
媳婦的作用也同樣如此
Since a new bride brought with her the good will of her family
新娘帶來了娘家的美好意愿
which promised similar economic and political benefits
允諾著同等的經濟和政治利益
So a lot was at stake in findings spouses for children
因此兒女婚事事關重大
And one ironic result was that many noble families
但結果卻出人意料很多貴族家庭中
could play the game for only a few of their children
只有一兩個兒女的婚事能這樣
The reason was that the high dowries that were the currency of marriage
原因是高昂的嫁妝，即婚姻的籌碼
made it very difficult for father to find husbands for more than one or two daughters
令許多慈父只能讓一兩個女兒嫁出去
Large dowries were a response by individual families to challenges to Venice's economic and political situation
單個家庭用高昂的嫁妝向威尼斯的經濟和政治狀況宣起了挑戰
In the 15th and 16th centuries
15和16世紀
European competition and the advance of the Ottoman Turks were putting growing pressure on Venice's commercial and colonial dominance
歐州的競爭和土耳其人的進步緊壓著威尼斯的商業和殖民地的支配地位
in the Eastern Mediterranean making it harder for nobles to prosper or even engage in the overseas trade
這使得地中海東部的貴族階層難再興旺，這甚至影響到海外貿易
That had been the traditional path to riches
海外貿易本是通向致富之路的傳統途徑
As a result the majority of nobles pinned their economic hopes on office holding stipends
結果大多數的貴族經濟上只得寄望于官俸
And a sister's husband could add note only his vote
姐妹的丈夫能貢獻選票
But those of his family members and their in laws
不僅丈夫的家族成員，而且這些人的家族成員
to her brother's electoral chances in these circumstances the more brothers in law
同樣也能幫助提高她兄弟的得選幾率
And the wider the web of marriage connections the better
婚姻關系網愈廣愈好
Here are a couple of examples of that wide ranging marriage policy
以下幾個例子體現了廣泛延伸的婚姻關系網
In the first half of the 15th century
十五世紀上半頁
families from the Balbi cazzata contracted 31 marriages with 24 different patrician houses
Balbi地區的家族通過31宗締約婚姻，和24個不同的權貴家族結親
Da canal families contracted 40 marriages with 29 different houses
Da Canal家族則通過40宗締約婚姻和29個不同的權貴家族結親
Now the bait to attract an influential or prestigious son in law was a large dowry
而若想釣得一位有權勢或聲名顯赫的金龜婿，誘餌就是大額的嫁妝
So dowries became a major investment vehicle for families
因此嫁妝成為這些家庭最主要的投資工具
trying to preserve or enhance their political economic or social status
用來維護或加強政治經濟或社會地位
The result almost inevitably was a surge in dowry levels
這必然導致嫁妝數額激增
