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So I was reading a biography on Charles II of England and have go to the part about Catherine of Braganza's dowry (the biggest given to a Queen of England in history!:eek:) and it got me thinking. When and why did dowries stop being important for Royal marriages? I can find various dowries into the 18th century, Marie Antoinettes was 200,000 gold crowns, but going into the 19th century dowries stopped mattering. Was it because royal marriages were technically chosen by the bride and groom? Was it because marriages became much less important for alliances? Or was there another reason?
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