Family formation and civic identity: Funding dowries in early modern Bologna

The essay explores how, in expanding charitable relief, early modern Bologna directed significant resources to promote orderly family formation not just by subsidizing marriages but by promoting mutual assistance, planning, and self-help. Charitable dowry funds, conservatories, and a marriage bank (Monte del Matrimonio) generated a sophisticated multi-pronged approach to marriage financing. It was a comprehensive strategy that strived to meet different needs, encouraged new attitudes regarding money, and played an important role in circulating capital within the broader economy.