Liber II, Pars I — Quod decet omnes Cives, et maxime reges, et principes quaerere in suis coniugibus non solum quod sint ornata exterioribus bonis, sed etiam interioribus. Cap. XIII.

Liber II, Pars I — Quod decet omnes Cives, et maxime reges, et principes quaerere in suis coniugibus non solum quod sint ornata exterioribus bonis, sed etiam interioribus. Cap. XIII.

As was shown above, marriage should be understood as something natural, indivisible, and meant for one person only. We also need to clarify what kind of people should enter into marriage, as it should not be between those who are too closely related. Furthermore, we have stated what external goods should be sought in a spouse. Now we must discuss how spouses should be adorned with both bodily and spiritual qualities. Therefore, it should be noted that the Philosopher I. In the Rhetoric, while listing the qualities of women, it states that the qualities of a woman's body are beauty and size, while the qualities of her soul are temperance and a love for hard work or service. As for the qualities of the body, beauty and size should be sought in a wife; but regarding the qualities of the soul, it seems most important to seek a woman who is temperate and does not love idleness, but rather loves to do meaningful work. What are the non-servile works that should be sought in spouses will become clear as we proceed. Now, it can be shown that these physical qualities, namely size and beauty, should be sought in a wife. For although marriage, as mentioned in the previous chapter, is intended for a rightful partnership, peace, and the sufficiency of life, it is also, nonetheless, directed towards the rightful procreation of offspring and the avoidance of fornication. Rather, it seems that marriage is primarily ordered towards these two goods rather than the three mentioned earlier. For the good of faith (that is, that spouses keep faith with each other, which in turn helps them avoid fornication) and the good of offspring seem to pertain more directly to marriage than those things we discussed in the previous chapter. Therefore, all those things that seem to contribute to avoiding fornication, maintaining the faith of marriage, and properly producing offspring should be sought in a spouse. We see, however, that the size of the body contributes to the good of offspring. For children, in terms of body size, generally take after their mothers, since they inherit a substantial part of their physical makeup from them. Just as in other animals, the large ones generally produce large offspring, so too in humans, if the parents are large, the children are usually large as well. All citizens should seek in their wives the physical qualities that contribute to the well-being of their children, so that the children may grow strong in body; this is especially important for kings and princes, who must be more concerned about their own children, since the common good and the safety of the kingdom depend on them. Secondly, among the physical qualities to be sought in a wife are beauty and attractiveness. For this also contributes to the well-being of the children. For just as, generally speaking, great beings produce great offspring, so too from beautiful beings come beautiful offspring. Therefore, if it is fitting for all citizens, especially for kings and princes, to be concerned that their children are beautiful and strong, it is also fitting for them to seek in their wives both physical stature and beauty; for beauty in a spouse seems to contribute not only to the goodness of the offspring but also to avoiding fornication, for which marriage is rightly ordained. It remains to see how much the qualities of the soul should be sought in a spouse, particularly temperance and a love for hard work. For it is important to consider how much the qualities of the soul should be sought in her, such as temperance and a love for hard work. Indeed, this quality seems to be the most important to seek in a woman, as she is most often incited to the opposite. It was said above that acting according to reason and pursuing passions are in opposition to each other, so that the more one pursues passions, the less one acts according to reason, and vice versa. Therefore, those in whom reason is weaker are more inclined to be followers of passions: children and women (as far as it pertains to themselves) seem more inclined to follow passions than men, because a man is superior in reason. But when temperance moderates those passions (as we have explained more fully in the first book), to which women are especially incited; although it is fitting for women to possess individual virtues according to their proper measure, yet when a woman is to be given in marriage, it is especially necessary to inquire whether she possesses temperance, since women are most inclined to intemperance. Therefore, all citizens ought to seek this in their spouses: yet this is especially fitting for kings and princes, since the intemperance of their marriage can cause more harm than the intemperance of others' marriages. Therefore, it is fitting for spouses to be temperate. They should also love diligence, because when a person is idle, they are more easily inclined to do what reason forbids. For the human mind (as the philosopher suggests) does not know how to be idle. It does not know how to be idle in politics. Therefore, when someone does not engage in good and lawful activities, their mind immediately wanders to other things and is occupied with base thoughts. It is clear from what has been said what kind of marriage should be and how all citizens, especially kings and princes, should conduct themselves in choosing their wives. For before they take a wife, they should carefully inquire how she is adorned with external goods, so that they may know how to carry themselves nobly and how through such a marriage they can achieve civil power and a multitude of friends. Secondly, they should investigate how she possesses physical attributes, such as being of great stature and having beauty and physical attractiveness. Thirdly, because it is not enough to be abundant in external goods and to have physical beauty unless there are also good qualities of mind and soul present, they should inquire how the wives to be taken should be temperate and how they should be industrious in lawful and honorable activities.