Mothers Included?

[darkerhorse]

Would the death record for the mother of the groom or bride be included in their marriage allegati, or were only death records for fathers included?

Also, in the absence of a father, was the godfather consulted on marriages?

[AngelaGrace56]

Would the death record for the mother of the groom or bride be included in their marriage allegati, or were only death records for fathers included?


Yes a deceased mother's death record would generally be included, as would the death record of a deceased former spouse, if one of the spouses to be married was widowed.

Also, in the absence of a father, was the godfather consulted on marriages?

No, I've never seen this. Hypothetically, I guess it might be possible, if say both parents had died, and an uncle, who had been a godparent at baptism, had been given guardianship, but I personally have never seen this.

Angela

[darkerhorse]

Would the death record for the mother of the groom or bride be included in their marriage allegati, or were only death records for fathers included?


Yes a deceased mother's death record would generally be included, as would the death record of a deceased former spouse, if one of the spouses to be married was widowed.

Also, in the absence of a father, was the godfather consulted on marriages?

No, I've never seen this. Hypothetically, I guess it might be possible, if say both parents had died, and an uncle, who had been a godparent at baptism, had been given guardianship, but I personally have never seen this.

Angela

Thanks.

The presence of mothers' death records could open up a new avenue for me.

[erudita74]

If both parents and grandparents were deceased, and a prospective spouse was underage, there would be a convening of a so-called "family council." The council would be comprised of uncles, cousins of adult age, or family friends. So one of these might be a godparent, but that really wasn't a consideration. These individuals would then deliberate the merits and shortcomings of the prospective spouse, and then a majority vote would result in consent or denial for the minor to marry. The document, which you would find with the allegati packet would be called a Consiglio di Famiglia.

If the prospective spouses were underage and of unknown parents, then they would be assigned guardians by their towns and those guardians, in conjunction with other assigned town members, would meet to do the same kind of deliberations and also to vote to give or not give consent. That document, which also is found with the allegati records, is called Consiglio di Tutela.

[darkerhorse]

This bride - Anna D'Alfonso - was only age 14. Her father was deceased, and her mother was living.
https://antenati.cultura.gov.it/ark:/12 ... 01/04VDzR2

I see her father's death record is included in number 4 of the documents. What do you make of the next lines?
https://antenati.cultura.gov.it/ark:/12 ... 01/wXyDqjY

[erudita74]

Basically #4 is saying that, from the death records presented, it was determined that the mother of the groom, and the father and grandfather of the bride, were deceased. So consent to the marriage was given by the groom’s father and the bride’s mother.

I meant to add that, unfortunately, the dates of the death, occasionally found in the list of supporting documents for a marriage, are not given in this record.

[darkerhorse]

I figured it was something like that. Thanks for the clarification.