Magdalena
and Balthasar, as affectionate, communicative spouses, discussed a wide range
of subjects within their letters to one another. One such topic was that of
widows and remarriage amongst their acquaintances in the city of Nuremberg. In
particular, Magdalena gives her opinion on the issue of remarriage. According
to Ozment, in a letter to Balthasar, "she criticizes a Herr Bosch as a
'frivolous man' for marrying Felicitas Pomer just ten weeks after the death of
his wife. ‘One should not forget so soon?' she exclaims." (Ozment 87). The
problem of rapid remarriage, like in the example Magdalena provides, aside from
the emotional aspect at hand, derived much from how closely marriage was
interwoven with economic considerations. For one, Wiesner-Hanks points out that
some widows faced poverty after their husband's death, while others gained
great access and control over finances; however, both of these circumstances
were often affected by laws or proscriptive documents. In the case of the
powerful widow, remarriage may have been encouraged in order to maintain
patriarchy (Wiesner-Hanks 94-95). In addition, certain laws were aimed at
restricting widows and widowers, as Ozment points out that Nuremberg attempted
to implicate a time restraint on how fast one could remarry (86). However, such
a decree probably did not hold up well in reality, especially as Magdalena’s account
testifies to the continuance of fast remarriage. Magdalena’s discussion of Herr
Bosch also fits the general trend of widower remarriage at the time. In fact,
Wiesner-Hanks explains that “50 percent of widowers in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries remarried… those [widowers] with many children were most
likely to remarry, and to remarry quickly” (95). Thus, perhaps, Herr Bosch, in
accordance with the tendency of widowers, had children for whom he needed to
quickly provide another maternal figure.
Regardless,
Magdalena’s criticism of a widower’s rate of remarriage is interesting given the
context of how common it was for a widower to remarry and to remarry quickly. Also,
in giving a negative opinion of a widower to her husband, Magdalena demonstrates
how unconstrained she was by any sense of patriarchy. It is also notable that
Magdalena refers to a widower, not a widow. This reflects the much lower rate of
remarriage among widows at the same time, which was 20 percent (Wiesner-Hanks
95). It was much more probable Magdalena would encounter a widower remarrying
than a widow. Such a difference between widower and widow remarriage rates
probably, to a degree, reflects women’s agency as some were able to choose to
remain independent and outside of a husband’s control (Wiesner-Hanks 95).
Altogether, the attention paid to widows and widowers, as exemplified by
Magdalena’s consideration of it, demonstrates how important marriage was to
maintaining the status quo, in that women were supposed to be subject to some
male figure. In fact, quick remarriage on the part of widowers would have contributed
to the maintenance of patriarchy, yet, at the same time, a larger number of
widows remained outside the institution of marriage and in a way, outside of
the grasp of one limb of patriarchy in society.
Ozment, Steven. Magdalena & Balthasar: An Intimate Portrait of Life in 16th Century Europe Revealed in the Letters of a Nuremberg Husband & Wife. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1986.
Wiesner-Hanks, Merry E. Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Engraving of The Noble Roman Widow
Artist: Pietro Bertelli
This gives an image of a widow, who, as
a noble, may have had the financial liberty to remain unmarried and chosen to
do so.
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