Marriage Strategies and Oligarchy in Early Modern Bologna

The essay explores the relationship between marriage, civic identity, and the endurance of oligarchy among aristocratic families in 16th-17th centuries Bologna. Through marriage strategies that privileged endogamy and restricted access to marriage, Bolognese patricians sought to solidify their lineages and access to power and wealth. Ironically these very patterns that accounted for the strength, wealth and longevity of some families, also led to the extinction of others, as fewer marriages resulted in fewer heirs to continue the lineage