For instance, the number of bridegrooms unable to write their names in 1872 was in the province of Turin 26%, and in the Calabrian province of Cosenza 90%; in 1899 the percentage in the province of Turin had fallen to 5%, while in that of Cosenza it was still 76%.
Their reconciliation and alliance were sealed by the marriage of the French king to Henrys favorite sister Mary, who was the bridegrooms junior by more than thirty years.
An attempt to recapture the city in 1149 was defeated by the heroism of the women, who were thenceforth empowered by the count to wear the red sash of the Order of La Hacha (The Axe), to import their clothes free of duty, and to precede their bridegrooms at weddings.
On the last day, which should be that terminating with the eve of Friday, or of Monday, the bride is taken in procession to the bridegrooms house, accompanied by her female friends, and a band of musicians, jugglers, wrestlers, &c. As before stated, a boy about to be circumcised joins in such a procession, or, frequently, a succession of such boys.