Eighteenth-century trousseau inventories of noblewomen joining a convent. An outline of research topics

Abstract

The article discusses the issue of the dowry and trousseau with which in noble families   parents or legal guardians were obliged to provide unmarried girls. The practice of providing unmarried women with a range of items that would be serviceable in their new life also concerned  those that joined a convent. This topic has not been widely addressed by researchers so far, probably due to the limited number and dispersion of the sources allowing for a thorough  analysis. Joining a convent was based on a contract in which the two parties undertook clearly   specified commitments; one of them was that the woman’s family was obliged to endow her  with a specified sum of a dowry. The transfer of a dowry was usually a precondition of accepting a woman into a convent. The trousseau was a separate matter; unlike prenuptial agreements, contracts with convents very rarely covered this issue since the ideals of religious life demanded renouncing individual property. Even though there are many mentions of dowries and trousseaus given to girls joining  convents, full trousseau inventories are uncommon. Most documents mention laconically that a girl was provided with everything that was necessary, with the number and value of items becoming the “honour of nobility”. Therefore, examples of inventories listing all the items are particularly valuable. The groups of movables recurring in inventories indicate what was considered particularly serviceable. Those categories included: various garments, furnishings, simple everyday objects, and also candles, prayer books and rosaries. The article also touches upon the issue of the cost of the taking-of-the-veil ceremony. The article is based on family documents and deeds registered in the municipal books of the Cracow Voivodship in the 18th c.