poor widow was:[Sca-cooks] Rotten meat and spices...

[Lonnie D. Harvel]

Laura C. Minnick wrote:

> Perhaps you misunderstood me. There is more to marriage then than 
> there often is now. When we say that a medieval girl didn't have 
> enough money to marry, it isn't just dowry. There is a fee called 
> merchet, that must be paid to the lord when a peasant woman marries. 
> If she marries a man from another area, the couple must come up with 
> yet more money, to pay a fee called foremariage (essentially a payment 
> to the woman's lord, as compensation for the loss of her labor when 
> she moves to her husband's village).

Don't forget the price paid to the priest for the marriage ceremony and 
such. Without paying the priest, you weren't married. Here is a celtic 
Psalm from the period:

<>A wedding is a costly business.
Money is needed for the priest
    and his clerk.
Money is needed for the hire
    of the church
Money is needed to feed the guests.
Money is needed for robes to wear.
Love by contrast is entirely free.
Free are the smiles that play
    on the lips;
Free are the kisses stolen
    by moonlight;
Free are the words whispered
    at midnight
Free are the strolls hand in hand
    through the wood.
We are rich in love but poor in money.
The priests say our union is sinful.
May god, who blesses us, forgive.


Pax,
Aoghann