A dowry (also known as trousseau) is a
gift of money or valuables given by the bride's family to that
of the groom at the time of their marriage.
In societies where payment of dowry is common, unmarried women
are seen to attract stigma and tarnish the family reputation, so
it is in the bride's family's interest to marry off their
daughter as soon as she is eligible. In some areas where this is
practiced, the size of the necessary dowry is directly
proportional to the groom's social status, thus making it
virtually impossible for lower class women to marry into upper
class families. In some cases where a woman's family is too poor
to afford any dowry whatsoever, she is either forbidden from
ever marrying, or at most becomes a concubine to a richer man
who can afford to support a large household. Dowries have been
part of civil law in almost all countries, Europe included.
Dowries were important components of Roman marriages.
The opposite direction, property settled on the bride by the
groom, is called dower |
