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 radically different from our own. The people on trial include assassins, a spell-caster, an exorcist, an adulterous wife, several courtesans, and the peasant cast of a bawdy, sacrilegious play. Out of their often pognant troubles, and their machinations, comes a vivid revelation of not only the tumultuous street life of Rome but also rituals of honour, the power and weakness of women, and the realities of social and economic hierarchies.
Like cinema-verite, "Words and Deeds in Renaissance Rome" gives us an intimate glimpse of a people and their world.
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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 radically different from our own. The people on trial include assassins, a spell-caster, an exorcist, an adulterous wife, several courtesans, and the peasant cast of a bawdy, sacrilegious play. Out of their often pognant troubles, and their machinations, comes a vivid revelation of not only the tumultuous street life of Rome but also rituals of honour, the power and weakness of women, and the realities of social and economic hierarchies.
Like cinema-verite, "Words and Deeds in Renaissance Rome" gives us an intimate glimpse of a people and their world.
Imprint | University of Toronto Press |
Country of origin | Canada |
Release date | October 1993 |
Availability | Supplier out of stock. If you add this item to your wish list we will let you know when it becomes available. |
First published | October 1993 |
Authors | Elizabeth S. Cohen, Thomas V. Cohen |
Dimensions | 229 x 153 x 24mm (L x W x T) |
Format | Paperback |
Pages | 308 |
Edition | 2nd Revised edition |
ISBN-13 | 978-0-8020-7699-1 |
Barcode | 9780802076991 |
Categories | |
LSN | 0-8020-7699-8 |