In today's society, marriage and family life are considered the center of our societal structure. Everything we do in life is affected by our family relationships. That being said, is it surprising that the same can be said about families in the Middle Ages? In fact, in some ways, marriage and family life were even more important then. A person's family has affected every moment of an individual's life. Coming from a good family, with a renowned reputation for breeding, greatly improved a woman's chances of having a good marriage. For men, choosing a wife from a good family meant forming appropriate legal ties that would perpetuate the fortunes of one's lineage and, in some cases, improve it. However, as important as marriage was to life in the Middle Ages, very few documents have been discovered that allow us to learn more about this important institution. The available documents pass through the filter of those who have a particular view of how things should have been, not necessarily how they actually happened. Although tracing the actual history of the marriage is complicated; tracing the history of women's married lives through their own point of view is almost impossible. The information available about women's lives passes through the filter of men, notably members of the local clergy and the aristocracy. In this article I have presented some of the information available on marriage and family life from the perspective of the medieval woman. As I mentioned previously, the center of life in the Middle Ages was marriage and family. This was especially true for women. From birth, a young woman's only usefulness to her father was contained in her potential as a wife capable of reproduction. For this reason, a young woman's prized virtue was her virginity, which...... middle of paper ......75.This book offers an easy-to-follow explanation of the lives of women in the Middle Age, including information about different social levels and their home life.Houts, Elisabeth MC. Medieval memories: men, women and the past, 700-1300. Harlow, England: Longman, 2001. Jewell, Helen M.. Women in Medieval England. Manchester: Manchester University Press;, 1996. Lucas, Angela M.. Women in the Middle Ages: Religion, Marriage and Letters. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1983. This book details life as a wife in the Middle Ages. Not specific to Italy, even less to Venice. Power, Eileen and MM Postan. Medieval women. Cambridge [England]: Cambridge University Press, 1975. Offers a quick overview of the mentality towards women in the Middle Ages. Skinner, Patricia. Women in medieval Italian society 500-1200. Harlow, England: Pearson Education, 2001.