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I want to spend the rest of the talk on
剩下的时间，我会讲解
how the anomalous status of women inflected their place in the patriciate the patriciate's lineage structure
女性这一反常的处境怎样改变她们在贵族阶级中的地位和贵族阶层的家族结构
And beyond that women's status modulated the lineage attitudes of their men folk as well
以及女性的处境如何改变男性亲属家族的地位
It all began with the patriciate's marriage practices
这要从贵族的婚姻实践说起
Arranging its children's marriage was the most important enterprise a noble family engaged in
儿女们的婚姻大事是每个贵族家庭的头等大事
A new son and brother in law
新成员，无论是女婿还是姐夫
could enlarge the circle of a family's potential business associates and political allies
能够扩展家族潜在的事业伙伴和政治同盟
and sometimes could enhance its social prestige
有时能增强其社会声望
The same thing was true of daughters in law
媳妇的作用也同样如此
Since a new bride brought with her the good will of her family
新娘带来了娘家的美好意愿
which promised similar economic and political benefits
允诺着同等的经济和政治利益
So a lot was at stake in findings spouses for children
因此儿女婚事事关重大
And one ironic result was that many noble families
但结果却出人意料很多贵族家庭中
could play the game for only a few of their children
只有一两个儿女的婚事能这样
The reason was that the high dowries that were the currency of marriage
原因是高昂的嫁妆，即婚姻的筹码
made it very difficult for father to find husbands for more than one or two daughters
令许多慈父只能让一两个女儿嫁出去
Large dowries were a response by individual families to challenges to Venice's economic and political situation
单个家庭用高昂的嫁妆向威尼斯的经济和政治状况宣起了挑战
In the 15th and 16th centuries
15和16世纪
European competition and the advance of the Ottoman Turks were putting growing pressure on Venice's commercial and colonial dominance
欧州的竞争和土耳其人的进步紧压着威尼斯的商业和殖民地的支配地位
in the Eastern Mediterranean making it harder for nobles to prosper or even engage in the overseas trade
这使得地中海东部的贵族阶层难再兴旺，这甚至影响到海外贸易
That had been the traditional path to riches
海外贸易本是通向致富之路的传统途径
As a result the majority of nobles pinned their economic hopes on office holding stipends
结果大多数的贵族经济上只得寄望于官俸
And a sister's husband could add note only his vote
姐妹的丈夫能贡献选票
But those of his family members and their in laws
不仅丈夫的家族成员，而且这些人的家族成员
to her brother's electoral chances in these circumstances the more brothers in law
同样也能帮助提高她兄弟的得选几率
And the wider the web of marriage connections the better
婚姻关系网愈广愈好
Here are a couple of examples of that wide ranging marriage policy
以下几个例子体现了广泛延伸的婚姻关系网
In the first half of the 15th century
十五世纪上半页
families from the Balbi cazzata contracted 31 marriages with 24 different patrician houses
Balbi地区的家族通过31宗缔约婚姻，和24个不同的权贵家族结亲
Da canal families contracted 40 marriages with 29 different houses
Da Canal家族则通过40宗缔约婚姻和29个不同的权贵家族结亲
Now the bait to attract an influential or prestigious son in law was a large dowry
而若想钓得一位有权势或声名显赫的金龟婿，诱饵就是大额的嫁妆
So dowries became a major investment vehicle for families
因此嫁妆成为这些家庭最主要的投资工具
trying to preserve or enhance their political economic or social status
用来维护或加强政治经济或社会地位
The result almost inevitably was a surge in dowry levels
这必然导致嫁妆数额激增
