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A dowry is made up of the money and property a woman brought into her marriage. It was paid by her family and was sometimes considered a gift or “bride-price” to the groom and his family. At other times, however, the dowry was preserved under the woman’s name (even if her husband had control over it during his lifetime as the head of household) so that if she was widowed or divorced, she wouldn’t become immediately destitute.
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Dowry Term Timeline in The Decameron
The timeline below shows where the term Dowry appears in The Decameron. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Day 2: Eighth Tale
...his children’s—to Perrot and Jacques. He tells Perrot that Jacques married his sister without a dowry (the property and wealth a woman brings into her marriage), so it’s best for Jacques...
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Day 5: Fifth Tale
In Fano, aged Lombard knight Guidotto da Cremona bequeaths his wealth (which includes a generous dowry for the girl’s eventual marriage) and his adopted daughter (later identified as Agnesa) to his...
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...and brought her to Fano—along with the plunder, which he planned to use as her dowry. In the crowd, Guiglielmino da Medicina (who was with Guidotto at the time) asks another...
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Day 8: Sixth Tale
...also concerns Calandrino, Bruno, and Buffalmacco. A small country farm made up part of the dowry of Calandrino’s wife (Tessa). Every year they’re entitled to a pig, which they slaughter and...
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Day 10: Seventh Tale
...gifts he lavishes on the newlyweds, he includes two lucrative estates to serve as Lisa’s dowry. Finally, holding her head in his hands, he kisses Lisa’s forehead. For the rest of...
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Day 10: Tenth Tale
...“great noblemen” and hers were “peasants.” She will return to her father’s house with her dowry and he will marry someone “far better suited.”
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...father’s house “naked as on the day [she] was born,” she offers to return her dowry (just herself), if he thinks it’s appropriate for his subjects to see the body that...
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