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To give you an idea between 1331 and 1360 noble dowries averaged 500 ducats
為了讓你們好理解1331和1360年間，貴族嫁妝平均是500金幣
During the period 1361 to 90, the following three decades
1361到1390年間，即之后的三十年
the average grew from 500 to 873 ducats
嫁妝平均數由500增加到873金幣
By the second half of the 15th century, a century later the average had risen to 1,230 ducats
到15世紀下半頁，即一個世紀之后，平均增長到1230金幣之多
Nearly a 50 percent increase
增幅將近50%
And they still kept going up
此后仍不斷攀升
By the first decade of the 16th century the average noble dowry had grown to 1,700 ducats
到16世紀前十年，貴族嫁妝的平均數增至1700金幣
That's a 350 percent increase during the 180 years since 1331
自1331年起的180年間增加了350%
Here I want to say a bit more about Venetian dowries
我想再說一下威尼斯人的嫁妝
Because they are the thread connecting love marriage and lineage
因為它維系著愛情，婚姻與血統
Their breathtaking rise posed serious financial problems for families of marrying daughters
嫁妝的驚人的增長為女方家人造成了一個重大的財政難題
The preamble to one of the futile dowry limiting laws
當時產生了一項限制嫁妝法
That the Senate enacted to stem the tide stated that
由上院制定以抑制此趨勢，其中一部的序言寫到
the relentless inflation prevented many nobles from arranging marriages for their daughter
無情的通脹使眾多貴族家庭無法為女兒們定親
with the result that many girls were
導致了許多閨秀們
in the words of the law imprisoned in convents amid tears and wailing
用法規的話來說，禁閉在修道院中以淚洗面
One estimate is that by the middle of the 16th century
一項預計顯示，到16世紀中頁
more than half of all patrician women were locked up or in convents
有大半的適婚女兒被束之閨閣或修道院
Although some of them went voluntarily
當然有一些是自愿的
But even fathers who did manage to gather enough wealth for a respectable marriage
但即使一個父親有足夠的財富為女兒籌辦體面的親事
did so in the words of one dowry limiting act to the detriment of their male heirs
其結果卻如法規所言，對他兒子們造成損害
That was no exaggeration
這并不夸張
One woman writing her will left all her property to her father because
一個女人在遺囑中寫到，死后所有財產留給父親
as she put it he was so unmindful of his other daughters and his sons
她說他如此不顧其他兒女
that he put half of his wealth into my dowry
而將大半財產為我置辦嫁妝
And she asked her husband pardon for not leaving him anything
她請求丈夫的原諒，因為她并未給他留下任何遺產
And a patrician father was even more explicit
另外一位貴族父親更加直接
he denied his married daughter any share in his estate
死后他已婚的女兒不能分到他一丁點房產
Because he said and there's a quote she has received much more than her brothers will get
引用他說的，她得到的已經多過她兄弟將得到的
Another woman the mother of one girl and one boy divided her estate between them
另一個育有一兒一女的母親將她的財產分給了兩人
Except that her daughter in her words should have over and above her share as much extra
但她的女兒，據她所說應享有她份額之外另外的部分
as my executors deem necessary for her dowry
只要遺囑執行人認為是嫁妝所需就行
All of this points to the exquisite dilemma faced by parents of daughters
所有這些說明了這些女兒的父母所面臨的微妙困境
Either they imposed hardships on their families by allocating large dowries
如果置辦大額嫁妝的話，他們會為家庭帶來困境
or they risked forfeiting patrician honor
或置其貴族榮耀于險地
And the advantages of well-placed sons and brothers in law by not doing so
如果不置辦的話，會損害有好著落的女婿叔侄的利益
