Random Most Lavish Dowries In History (16 items)

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  (#5) Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy

  • Dec. at 50 (1480-1530)

  A highly desirable match, Margaret of Austria had one broken betrothal and two marriages. It was her potential contribution to her first marriage (the one that didn't happen) that's truly astounding. At just three years old, she was betrothed to marry Charles VIII, King of France; as a child of the last heiress of the great dukes of Burgundy, her dowry was to include the vast territories of Artois, Burgundy, Auxerre, and more.

  She also had to come live at his court as a child as part of the arrangement. It's no wonder the King of France wanted Margaret for himself—but the match was eventually quashed in favor of others, and Charles had to give back these lands.
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  (#12) Catherine of Aragon

  • Dec. at 51 (1485-1536)

  Catherine of Aragon married Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, in 1501, bringing with her a sizable dowry of 200,000 escudos. However, Arthur died in 1502, and only half of that bridal money had been paid to the English crown. Normally, it would be considered a bit outré for a king to marry his dead brother's widow - but with the promise of more riches to come, how could Henry VIII resist? The marriage was settled, and Catherine became the first of Henry's many wives.

  Just how much was Catherine's dowry worth? Historians estimate that her fortune would have been worth approximately £100,000 at the time, the equivalent of a whole year's income for the English government. It's difficult to say how that would stack up in terms of modern U.S. dollars, but rest assured, it's enough to comfortably retire on.
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  (#14) Mary Tudor, Queen of France

  • Dec. at 37 (1496-1533)

  Henry VIII's sister Mary Tudor's dowry can really best be understood as more of a fine than a gift. After her marriage to France's King Louis XII ended as a result of his demise, Mary Tudor did the unthinkable: she married a man named Charles Brandon for love, and she did so without asking her brother's permission. When Henry VIII found out about the clandestine nuptials, he was furious, and he levied a fine against his sister that roughly corresponded to the dowry from her first marriage plus interest.

  Henry VIII required the couple to return all of the dowry from Mary's first marriage, and he took the famous Mirror of Naples jewel from them. Henry also required the couple to pay a fine of £24,000 (£11,610,000 today) in yearly instalments of £1,000 (£484,000). 
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  (#7) Violante Visconti

  • Dec. at 32 (1354-1386)

  Edward III of England and his wife, Philippa of Hainault, had several sons, which proved problematic when it came to inheritance and sparked the Wars of the Roses. Their second surviving son, Lionel of Antwerp (he was born in modern Belgium) married twice: first to an Irish noblewoman and then to an Italian princess named Violante Visconti, daughter of the lord of Milan.

  They were married in 1368, when Lionel journeyed to Italy to collect his bride. Her dowry cost Violante's dad two million gold florins, as well as a number of towns, castles, and cities in Italy to go to her and her husband. Their wedding banquet reportedly fed more than 10,000 people. Just five months after their marriage, Lionel died and the English refused to give back much of Violante's dowry, leading to conflict between her family and the English.
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  (#4) Grace Kelly

  • Dec. at 53 (1929-1982)

  Despite the fact that actress Grace Kelly married into the princely Grimaldi family of Monaco, she was the one who had to bring a royal dowry to the marriage. Her dad was a champion rower, and her mom was the University of Pennsylvania's first-ever female sports coach. But Grace's father also made a ton of money in his brick business, so he was able to fork over $2 million to help pay for his daughter's wedding.

  Grace also had to undergo a fertility test to make sure she would be able to bear heirs to Prince Rainier, since his mistress ex was supposedly barren (although the ex-lover later gave birth to a child).
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  (#10) Cicero

  • Dec. at 63 (105 BC-42 BC)

  Famed ancient Roman politician/orator/lawyer Marcus Tullius Cicero got married twice, both times for some big money. As a novus homo, a "new man" (indicating that he was the first from his family to enter the Senate), Cicero had a lot of social obstacles to overcome, and a wealthy wife would help. His first and best-known wife was Terentia, who brought a bunch of assets with her, including a mountain estate, a farm, and landlordship of Roman apartment blocks.

  This cash helped Cicero get a head start in politics, although Terentia didn't hand over her dowry to him. She was reluctant to let him splurge and managed his affairs well on his behalf when he was in exile. She also gave him two kids – a daughter, Tullia, and a son, also named Cicero. At around 60, in need of more cash, Cicero divorced Terentia and married a teenager named Publilia, of whom he was the guardian. They only stayed together for a few months, though, after Cicero got an inheritance from a friend.

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