Recently, the studies focused on the history of the Ancient Italian States have underlined the widespread use, among the relief initiatives, of charity dowries. These were perceived as a characteristic of the Italian Peninsula and, more specifically, as an expression of the need to protect women’s honor, conceived as a tangible manifestation of the moral quality of the entire community. Through the cross-analysis of rules and practices, this essay analyzes some uses widespread within the Neapolitan aristocracy during the 16th and the 17th centuries, when the Kingdom of Naples was part of the Spanish Imperial System and the Castilian élite intended to melt with the most important lineages in Naples. By taking into account the monti dei maritaggi, laical associations established to collect and distribute the capitals required to fund the brides’ dowries, we will examine the asymmetries of power within the noble family, starting from normative documents, in order to define the participation of the female members to the meaning of the class and familial identity and to challenge the traditional interpretation of the patrimonial structure of the aristocratic inheritance system.
Il volume, edito da una prestigiosa collana scientifica, raccoglie i contributi sviluppati dal network internazionale Gender Differences in the History of European Legal Cultures aggregato attorno al Groupe de Recherche d'Histoire (GRHis) dell’Université de Rouen Normandie (France) per un programma comparativo di ricerca sull’agency economica femminile in rapporto ai differenti sistemi giuridici europei. Attraverso lo studio di fonti statutarie, normative ed economiche dei monti dotali aristocratici, tradizionalmente utilizzati dalla storiografia per determinare strategie di tutela di ceto, il saggio ha inteso capovolgere la prospettiva per evidenziare piuttosto le tracce della cultura dell’inclusione e della salvaguardia dei rami cadetti dei lignaggi per proteggere, insieme all’integrità dei patrimoni, l’immagine pubblica dell’intero casato e i rapporti verticali, ma anche orizzontali tra le generazioni. Da questa prospettiva innovativa la ricerca, sviluppata tanto attraverso la lettura diretta delle fonti che in rapporto con gli studi più recenti prodotti dalla comunità scientifica internazionale, si è posta, con ampi riscontri, nel solco della più aggiornata storiografia che ha dimostrato che la politica del benessere della collettività ha costituito una componente irrinunciabile del patrimonio identitario radicata in una fase storica antecedente a quanto tradizionalmente sostenuto
39. Class privileges and the public good. The monti for dowries in Early Modern Naples
FIORELLI, Vittoria
2018-01-01
Abstract
Recently, the studies focused on the history of the Ancient Italian States have underlined the widespread use, among the relief initiatives, of charity dowries. These were perceived as a characteristic of the Italian Peninsula and, more specifically, as an expression of the need to protect women’s honor, conceived as a tangible manifestation of the moral quality of the entire community. Through the cross-analysis of rules and practices, this essay analyzes some uses widespread within the Neapolitan aristocracy during the 16th and the 17th centuries, when the Kingdom of Naples was part of the Spanish Imperial System and the Castilian élite intended to melt with the most important lineages in Naples. By taking into account the monti dei maritaggi, laical associations established to collect and distribute the capitals required to fund the brides’ dowries, we will examine the asymmetries of power within the noble family, starting from normative documents, in order to define the participation of the female members to the meaning of the class and familial identity and to challenge the traditional interpretation of the patrimonial structure of the aristocratic inheritance system.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
