Women, dowries and familyholds in early modern Basque Country

The concept of dowry is usually associated with the woman to be married. This assertion is based on ancient, medieval and early modern legislation on the European continent. However, it is not unanimous, as Basque legislation in the Biscay region provided for a different legal scenario: the husband contributed a dowry at the time of marriage. In order for this to happen, the wife had to be designated as the sole heiress of her parents. In the following pages, therefore, I will analyse this peculiarity of Basque law and, more specifically, of the territory of Biscay in the 16th-18th centuries. I will not only explain the legislation, but also a large number of real cases found in the archives. These examples show that there were husbands who brought the dowry, while the wives, who had been appointed heiresses by their parents, brought the family home. These situations could therefore be seen as examples of gender equality in the history of European legal cultures.