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Dower ((ラテン語:dotarium), ''donatio propter nuptias'', Byzantine: ὑπόβολον ''hypobolon''; (フランス語:douaire), (オランダ語:weduwgift), (ドイツ語:Mitgift)) is a provision accorded by law, but traditionally by a husband or his family, to a wife for her support in the event that she should survive her husband (i.e., become a widow). It was settled on the bride by agreement at the time of the wedding, or provided by law. ("Settled" here refers to a gift into trust.) The dower grew out of the Germanic practice of bride price (Old English ''weotuma'') which was given over to a bride's family well in advance for arranging the marriage, but during the early Middle Ages, was given directly to the wife instead. However, in popular parlance, the term may be used for a life interest in property settled by a husband on his wife at any time, not just at the wedding. The verb ''to dower'' is sometimes used''.'' In popular usage, the term ''dower'' may be confused with: *A ''dowager'' is a widow (who may receive her dower). The term is especially used of a noble or royal widow who no longer occupies the position she held during the marriage. For example, Queen Elizabeth was technically the dowager queen after the death of George VI (though she was referred to by the more informal title "Queen Mother"), and Princess Lilian was the Dowager Duchess of Halland in heraldic parlance. Such a dowager will receive the income from her dower property. (The term "Empress Dowager", in Chinese history, has a different meaning.) *Property brought to the marriage by the bride is called a ''dowry''. But the word ''dower'' has been used since Chaucer (''The Clerk's Tale'') in the sense of ''dowry'', and is recognized as a definition of ''dower'' in the Oxford English Dictionary. *Property made over to the bride's family at the time of the wedding is a ''bride price''. This property does not pass to the bride herself. *''Mahr'', a payment that a husband is required to make to his wife at the time of an Islamic marriage or, failing that, in the event of a divorce. Unlike ''mahr'', dower is optional and was typically paid only after the husband's death. In Europe, dower was only possible with actual assignment of property; ''mahr'' in contrast can be a promise to transfer property. ==Meaning== Being for the widow and being accorded by law, dower differs essentially from a conventional marriage portion such as the English dowry (cf. Roman ''dos'', Byzantine ''proíx'', French ''dot'', Dutch ''bruidsschat'', German ''Mitgift''). The bride received a right to certain property from the bridegroom or his family. It was intended to ensure her livelihood in widowhood, and it was to be kept separate and in the wife's possession. Dower is the gift given by the groom to the bride, customarily on the morning after the wedding, though all dowerings from the man to his fiancée, either during the betrothal period, or wedding, or afterwards, even as late as in the testamentary dowering, are understood as dowers if specifically intended for the maintenance of the widow. Dower was a property arrangement for marriage first used in early medieval German cultures, and the Catholic Church drove its adoption into other countries, in order to improve the wife's security by this ''additional'' benefit. The practice of dower was prevalent in those parts of Europe influenced by Germanic Scandinavian culture, such as Sweden, Germany, Normandy and successor states of the Langobardian kingdom. The husband was legally prevented from using the wife's dower — as contrasted with her dowry, which was brought to the marriage by the bride and used by both spouses. This often meant that the woman's legal representative, usually a male relative, became guardian or executor of the dower, to ensure that it was not squandered. Usually, the wife was free from kin limitations to use (and bequeath) her dower to whatever and whomever she pleased. It may have become the property of her next marriage, been given to an ecclesiastical institution, or been inherited by her children from other relationships than that from which she received it. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Dower」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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