Marriage alliance in late medieval Florence (review)

Abstract

210 Reviews Tbe sources have been thoroughly analysed for tbe light they shed on thereligioushistory of medieval Verona. MUler describes three computer databases she constructed, containing details of charters, information on ecclesiastical institutions, and place names. But the study is far from being a dry statistical analysis. With a deft and sure touch, she pieces together a most interesting account of the Veronese church, looking in turn at the secular clergy, religious life, diocesan organizational structures, and the bishops. Tbe writing is clear and graceful throughout, and the use of sources is careful and judicious. This is more than a study of Verona, however. In the course of the book, Miller tackles fundamental questions about tbe nature of the Church in this period, and persuades us torethinksome of our assumptions about it. She treats spiritual, political and institutional matters as a unified whole, most notably in an excellent discussion of the role and work of the bishops of Verona. Her underlying thesis is that it is not fruitful to speak of a 'Gregorian reform' imposed on the dioceses by the Pope. Rather, this was a time of great innovation and creativity, a 'quickening' brought about by rapid demographic growth, economic development, and social change. The creative ferment which resulted in a new, different Church began before the time of Gregory VII and was just as evident in dioceses under imperial rather than papal control. Verona was one of these, and it offers, in Miller's careful but wide-ranging analysis, a persuasive example of the mixture of spiritual, institutional, and political change which characterized the Church in this period. As well as the skill and sophistication of its argument, this book is well-produced, with a large typeface, plenty of space in the layout, and nice decorative embellishments. All in all, it is an important work which is essential for students of the medieval Church. Toby Burrows University Library University of Western Australia Molho, Anthony, Marriage alliance in late medieval Florence, Cambridge Mass., Harvard University Press, 1994; cloth; pp. xx, 458; 37 tables, 6 figures; R.R.P. US$59.00. The role of marriage alliances as an index and contributory factor to social status in Renaissance Florence has been of interest to social historians of Reviews 211 this city and period at least since it was discussed by Laura Martines in The social world of the Florentine humanists (1963). Professor Molho has made an important addition to the continuing discussion of this subject with this substantial new work, which is also a significant contribution to the history of Florentine government policy during the fifteenth century and early sixteenth century since it begins with a detailed examination of the founding of the Monte delle Doti and the way in which the fund and its operation were continually affected by the changing financial circumstances of the Florentine state. Molho begins by observing that despite the ups and down of life in the fourteenth,fifteenth,and sixteenth centuries, particularly the high mortality rates of these centuries, a number of Florentine lineages survived, generally speaking, unscathed throughout this period. A more sceptical observer might simply put this down to the law of averages, but Molho uses this observation as a peg on which to hang his inquiry into the most important considerations governing the choice of a husband or wife for the Florentine ruling class, and thereby ensuring; the continuance of the family. The conclusion which he reaches, neafry 350 pages later, is that lineages within the ruling class, and perhaps other families as well, sought marriage partners for then young men and w o m e n not spectacularly far up the social hierarchy from the position they themselves ocupied, nor very far down it, if that could be avoided, but more or less the same level,resultingin what the author refers to as ruling class 'homogamy'. The Monte delle Doti is clearly a rich source, and Molho makes very effective use of it. For example, the chapter entitled 'Investors and beneficiaries', which examines the social classes whose daughters were enrolled in the fund, throws light one the vertical ties of patronage and charity which in some cases led to the establishment...