Based on a fascinating body of previously unexamined archival material, this book brings to life the lost voices of ordinary Venetians during the age of Catholic revival. Looking at scripts that were brought to the city's ecclesiastical courts by spouses seeking to annul their marriage vows, this book opens up the emotional world of intimacy and conflict, sexuality, and living arrangements that did not fit normative models of marriage.
Based on a fascinating body of previously unexamined archival material, this book brings to life the lost voices of ordinary Venetians during the age ...
This captivating history exposes a clandestine world of family and community secrets--incest, abortion, and infanticide--in the early modern Venetian republic.
With the keen eye of a detective, Joanne M. Ferraro follows the clues in individual cases from the criminal archives of Venice and reconstructs each one as the courts would have done according to the legal theory of the day. Lawmakers relied heavily on the depositions of family members, neighbors, and others in the community to establish the veracity of the victims' claims. Ferraro recounts this often colorful testimony,...
This captivating history exposes a clandestine world of family and community secrets--incest, abortion, and infanticide--in the early modern Veneti...
