Marriage in 16th century Latin Florilegia

Florilegia, collections of excerpts from literary works, occasionally intended for teaching during Middle Ages and Renaissance, are an invaluable tool as the reflection of a period. In this article we will analyse a sellection of excerpta related to marriage, taken from some of the most relevant Latin florilegia of the sixteenth century (Mayer 1534, Estienne 1534, Mirandola 1538 and Schonborn 1565). From the selection and manipulation operated by the compilers, we will extract their ideas about the situation of marriage in this period, with special attention to the role of women. At the same time, we will analyse how these authors treated the classical texts in order to adapt them to their interests and turn them into a moral pedagogical product.