society and the sexes in the venetian republic 371
a clear distinction. A prostitute provided sexual services to many men
for money on a one-time or occasional basis. A concubine, in contrast,
remained in a continuing relationship with one man over a period of time
often extending to many years. He was expected to provide support to
her and any offspring born of their liaison, mainly in the form of food
and clothing, and to take responsibility for the children’s education and
placement in marriage or an occupation.69
From an elite man’s point of view, publicly maintaining a concubine
made known to all his elevated social status, affluence, and power over
inferiors. “A concubine was a luxury good, an article, one might say, of
conspicuous consumption, like a coach.”70 If for some reason he found
her inconvenient, he would marry her off to a non-elite man, often reserv-
ing the prerogative of continuing to enjoy her sexual services—in which
case her husband, if he dared, might go to court to assert his rights as her
legitimate husband. More often than not, a non-elite concubinator was
consciously imitating his betters, thereby attempting, usually in vain, to
enhance his reputation.
From concubines’ point of view, entering into such a relationship prom-
ised, for the duration of the liaison, a higher tenor of life than they could
otherwise enjoy—and in the long run, the prospect of marriage to men
on their own social level, made possible by dowries (which they could not
otherwise assemble) provided by their elite partners. For these reasons,
their natal families seldom disapproved of such liaisons and sometimes
encouraged them. From the point of view of elite concubinators’ wives,
spouses’ extramarital relationships were at best a source of resentment.
If the concubines were treated as well as or better than they, or worst of
all installed in the family home, a wife might seek judicial dissolution of
her marriage.71
Moved by his own sense of responsibility and/or at his confessor’s urging,
an unmarried elite concubinator might enter a “marriage of conscience”
with his concubine and recognize or even legitimate their children. In 1497,
for instance, the Venetian patrician Bernardino Dandolo took as his con-
cubine Caterina di Bartolomeo da Galda, a young widow from the Paduan
hinterland serving as a wet nurse in the home of his cousin Alvise Bembo.
On 24 October 1500, they were married before a notary in the presence of
69 Eisenach, Husbands, Wives, and Concubines, pp. 134–66.
70 Eisenach, Husbands, Wives, and Concubines, pp. 146–47.
71 Eisenach, Husbands, Wives, and Concubines, pp. 134–77.