A free translation of the central section of an act before Notary Stefano Buccini, 7 November 1737 in Ascoli Satriano (ref: Archivo di Stato Foggia prot 1446/2os f.58).
Eleanora Galotto of the city of Ascoli, legitimate wife of Francesco Antonio Angiullo of the same city, your majesty's most humble vassal, supplicates as follows:
At the time of her marriage to the said Angiullo, she was assigned by her father, the late Potito Galotto, an uncultivated vigna and a house consisting of a room and a cellar sited in this city. Because this house had a crumbling wall it was rebuilt by her said husband for the sum of 25 ducats as is attested by the master builder.
And this year because of the very poor harvest as a result of a great frost, the said Francesc'Antonio Angiullo is powerless to meet his debts. Also he has to feed his wife and family and is threatened with prison by his creditors which, if it were to happen, would occasion great harm to the supplicant and her children. Hence to meet these expenses, the supplicant needs to take out a loan of 50 ducats, with a reversionary clause, on the above mentioned dowry property. And since no one is willing to arrange a loan with the said Eleanora without the royal assent of your majesty, she begs this permission in order to be able to offer the necessary guarantees to whoever will lend her the money.
A note on the same act gives permission to use the dowry property as surety on a loan from the president of the Regia Curia di Santa Chiara, one of the royal courts of the Kingdom of Naples. This act indicates the extent of legal safeguards upon dowry property. This security may be one of the reasons why a disproportionately large amount of immovable property in Ascoli was given to daughters as part of their dowries.