Images of Women in Antiquity by Kuhrt Amélie. Cameron Averil

Author:Kuhrt, Amélie.,Cameron, Averil.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (CAM)
Published: 2005-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

Maria’s situation is probably typical of the poor Byzantine widow, economically insecure, who craves the protection and security of marriage. Her negotiations with the soldier are conducted by other women who understand her predicament. The first proposal does not appear to be received with any sense of outrage and is rejected, formally, on the grounds of the children. The whole incident indicates the frequency of remarriage, a step condemned by the church but regularly practised, judging by the number of legal rulings made to protect the rights of children of previous marriages. Indeed, Byzantine law stipulated that step-parents were obliged to adopt such offspring as their own, which may have been the reason for the soldier’s refusal. This law is confirmed by many cases of precisely this type of adoption, where provision of a dowry for daughters is also laid down.16 Maria, however, tried to remove the obstacle which prevented her from remarrying, and of course the point of the story as related by a clearly prejudiced male source, is that she was eventually punished for this crime. But her tale reveals the immense significance of marriage for women and the ‘dangers’ posed by widows for men.

Marriages depended upon many factors, not least the dowry. Even between families of modest means a marriage alliance united a certain amount of property in the hands of the new couple, with contributions from both parties. As far as the bride was concerned, what became hers at marriage was normally hers to dispose of, so dowries and wills are related legal documents providing evidence of female ownership and control of wealth. This material facilitates the second avenue of approach, for it permits a fairly realistic appraisal of what individual Byzantine women with a certain amount of property could call their own. While it is true that such acts ‘are not the best means of self-expression’,17 neither should they be overlooked. In addition, the role of mothers and grandmothers in the arrangement of marriage contracts, reveals a heavy female influence in what was a key family matter. As young girls could be married at 12 and were often abducted or illegally married below that age, their engagement in suitable alliances was sometimes undertaken early in life. Older female relatives could not be held responsible for subsequent failures: when a man tried to divorce his wife on the grounds that his grandmother had signed all the marriage documents, the court stated that her arrangements were not in question and that she did not have to appear. He, however, had to pay compensation to the bride’s family.18 An active female role in marriage contracts can also be seen in the identification of objects and property as part of a mother’s dowry, which is passed on to her daughter, thus preserving inheritance in the female line (also visible in wills). What the bride’s family provided as her dowry largely determined the match she would make, as the groom had to contribute an equivalent value. The terms of one particular proikosymbolion (dowry contract) are spelled out in a South Italian document of 1097.

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