La misura della dote. Alcune riflessioni sulla storia della famiglia ebraica nello Stato della Chiesa in età moderna

International audienceThis article constitutes not only a methodological reflection on the Jewish dowry in early modern times, but intends likewise to use the Jewish dowry as a means to study, at diverse levels of analysis, the wealth of the Jewish families on the one hand and on the other hand the wealth of different communities in a comparative approach (Rome and further Ghettos in the Papal States). Demonstrating the complexity of mechanisms of transmission linked to matrimonial strategies, this study proposes moreover a reflection upon the functionality of certain categories used in social sciences such as the concept of social groups. Producing less social exclusion at the level of the matrimonial market, the Jewish society succeeds in amalgamating in an astonishing way foreigners and lower social classes. The family endogamy not only allowed but valued in Judaism goes hand in hand with the social exogamy especially developed in comparison to the Christian majority society