Women’s Status, Family Systems, and Marriage in a Time of Economic Crisis

Abstract

Using a variety of archival sources, this article traces the transition in Cuenca, Spain, from the bilateral family system that predominated in late medieval Castile to the final triumph of the patrilineal, agnatic family system in the seventeenth century. The central measure of this transition is the interlocking fates of the dowry and the arras (bride price). As the patriarchal, patrilineal family became entrenched during a period of demographic crisis, the price of dowries skyrocketed while the bride price declined in value and ultimately disappeared. The article includes a discussion of funding strategies for the dowry, inheritance law, and the degree of homogamy in marriages which relied on the dowry system.