It is not often realized that women held a high place in southern European societies in the 10 th and 11 th centuries. As wife, the woman was protected by the setting up of a dowry (嫁妆) or decimum. Admittedly, the purpose of this was to protect her against the risk of desertion (遗弃)，but in reality its function in the social and family life of the time was much more important. The decimum was the wife’s right to receive a tenth of all her husband’s property. The wife had the right to withhold consent, in all transactions the husband would make, And more than just a right: the documents showed that she enjoyed a real power of decision, equal to that of her husband. In no case did the documents indicate any degree of difference in the legal status of husband and wife.
The wife shared in the management of her husband’s personal property, but the opposite was not always true. Women seemed perfectly prepared to defend their own inheritance(遗产，继承物)against husbands who tried to exceed their rights, and on occasion they showed a fine fighting spirit. A case in point is that of Maria, Vivas, a Catalan woman of Barcelona. Having agreed with her husband Miro to sell a field she had inherited, for the needs of the household, she insisted on compensation. None being offered, she succeeded in dragging her husband to the scribe to have a contract duly drawn up assigning her a piece of land from Miro’s personal inheritance. The unfortunate husband was obliged to agree, as the contract says, “for the sake of peace.” Either through the dowry or through being hot-tempered, the Catalan wife knew how to win herself, within the context of the family, a powerful economic position.
小题1: A decimum was .
A．the wife’s inheritance from her father
B．a gift of money to the new husband
C．a written contract
D．the wife’s right to receive one-tenth of her husband’s property小题2: In the society described in the passage, the legal standing of the wife in marriage was .
A．higher than that of her husband
B．lower than that of her husband
C．the same as that of her husband
D．higher than that of a single woman小题3: What compensation did Maria Vivas get for the field?
A．Some of the land Miro had inherited.
B．A tenth of Miro’s land.
C．Money for household expenses.
D．Money from Miro’s inheritance.小题4: Which of the following is Not mentioned as an effect of the dowry system?
A．The husband had to share the power of decision in marriage.
B．The wife was protested from desertion.
C．The wife gained a powerful economic position.
D．The husband was given control over his wife’s property.
