Coisas de princesas: casamentos, dotes e enxovais na família real portuguesa (1480-1580)

Abstract

This article analyses the transfers of wealth through mariage of the princesses of the Portuguese royal house, during the transition period from the Middle Ages to the Modern Period, hereby seeking to understand the scale and composition of such wealth and attempting to estimate the value of the trousseau in the dowry. At first sight, in the frequent exchanges of brides between the Spanish and Portuguese crowns, it is noted that dowries paid by the latter were considerably higher, the paper also focuses the trousseaus, which shed light on consumption habits and the use of objects in the queens' and princesses' private chambers. The survey outlines the increased bureaucracy involved in the management of the trousseaus, the introduction of objects typical of the Early Modern Period, many of which from the East, as well as growing concerns with body care. However, the author outlines the absence of indicators of arising privacy in the lives of these princesses and queens, who were on the contrary subjected to increasing supervision.