The social historian, searching for the basis of a culture, often turns to a study of ordinary people. Perhaps one of the most revealing places to find them is in a court of law. In this presentatoin of nine criminal trials of sixteenth-century Rome (1540-75), where magistrates kept verbatim records, Thomas and Elizabeth Cohen paint a lively portrait of a society, one that is reminiscent of Boccaccio. These stories, however, are true.
Each trial transcript is followed by an essay that interprets the beliefs, codes, everyday speech, and personal transactions of a world that is...
The social historian, searching for the basis of a culture, often turns to a study of ordinary people. Perhaps one of the most revealing places to ...
