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The Laboring Classes in Renaissance Florence
The Laboring Classes in Renaissance Florence investigates the part of Renaissance history that refers to the notarial and criminal archives of Florence. The book presents the relations between the laboring classes and the ruling elite. It demonstrates the class struggle that happened in the Renaissance period.
The text also describes the progress of class struggle in periods preceding the Industrial Revolution. It discusses the reforms of the political strategies, list of protests, and awareness of artisans and laborers in preindustrial milieu. Another topic of interest is the tax revolt, food riot, and rural rebels’ resistance during the Renaissance period. The section that follows describes the emergence of ethnic ghettos, impact of immigration, and distribution of population.
The book will provide valuable insights for historians, students, and researchers in the field of medieval history.
The text also describes the progress of class struggle in periods preceding the Industrial Revolution. It discusses the reforms of the political strategies, list of protests, and awareness of artisans and laborers in preindustrial milieu. Another topic of interest is the tax revolt, food riot, and rural rebels’ resistance during the Renaissance period. The section that follows describes the emergence of ethnic ghettos, impact of immigration, and distribution of population.
The book will provide valuable insights for historians, students, and researchers in the field of medieval history.
- GenresHistoryRenaissance
ebook
First published January 1, 1980
18 people want to read
About the author
Samuel K. Cohn Jr.
19 books12 followersSamuel Kline Cohn Jr., is Professor of Medieval History at the University of Glasgow.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 11, 2014
I only had time to skim through this book, for what it's worth. I didn't take the time to go through all of the details of the statistical analysis, so if that's what you're interested in this review is probably not going to be helpful to you.
This is a book with a lot of hugely interesting ideas, but it's also a bit of a painstaking read. Samuel Cohn takes a look at Florence c. 1350-1550 through a quantitative lens in order to explore the people who are most often eclipsed: the popolo minuto, the working classes that rarely leave a trace in the documents.
Cohn's main point is that in the 14th century the lower classes of Florence were spread equitably throughout the city. They also tended to have rather wide-ranging contacts based on their patterns of marriage - an extremely poor laborer was just as likely to marry someone from the opposite side of the city as a member of the patrician class. Cohn suggests that this network allowed for the existence of the 1378 Ciompi Revolt, in which members of the wool industry overthrew the ruling oligarchy and set up a very inclusive government (inclusive for the male citizens, at least). The Ciompi Revolt, he argues, should not be seen as a traditional communal uprising, but as something surprisingly 'modern': it wasn't based on neighborhoods, bread prices, or the restitution of ancient rights, but on cross-city networks.
He then argues that this network fell apart during the 15th century, and the poorer classes were increasingly pushed to the physical margins of the city. Once there, civic policing was extremely harsh on major crimes but tended to abandon the districts to petty crimes that further deteriorated neighborhoods. This led to a change in civic protest, in which individual criminal attacks replaced the organized revolt of the 14th century. Cohn blames this shift on economic factors (the widening wealth gap caused Medici-era patricians to revitalize the city center while pushing poorer citizens towards the walls) and immigration patterns (more and more foreign citizens were moving to the city, and lacking of a knowledge of Florentine culture and language tended to keep to themselves and further fragment the class).
Again, lots of interesting ideas but a somewhat impenetrable read. The majority of the text outlines the parameters for Cohn's statistical analysis and it's not light reading. I also get the feeling that his distinctions are a bit artificial: quantitative analysis requires isolating variables and placing things in particular categories, and I'm not sure that necessarily works for a civic environment like Florence. It almost reads like someone setting up a scientific experiment at times, but history from this period doesn't provide nearly enough data for that to be a completely convincing approach.
This is a book with a lot of hugely interesting ideas, but it's also a bit of a painstaking read. Samuel Cohn takes a look at Florence c. 1350-1550 through a quantitative lens in order to explore the people who are most often eclipsed: the popolo minuto, the working classes that rarely leave a trace in the documents.
Cohn's main point is that in the 14th century the lower classes of Florence were spread equitably throughout the city. They also tended to have rather wide-ranging contacts based on their patterns of marriage - an extremely poor laborer was just as likely to marry someone from the opposite side of the city as a member of the patrician class. Cohn suggests that this network allowed for the existence of the 1378 Ciompi Revolt, in which members of the wool industry overthrew the ruling oligarchy and set up a very inclusive government (inclusive for the male citizens, at least). The Ciompi Revolt, he argues, should not be seen as a traditional communal uprising, but as something surprisingly 'modern': it wasn't based on neighborhoods, bread prices, or the restitution of ancient rights, but on cross-city networks.
He then argues that this network fell apart during the 15th century, and the poorer classes were increasingly pushed to the physical margins of the city. Once there, civic policing was extremely harsh on major crimes but tended to abandon the districts to petty crimes that further deteriorated neighborhoods. This led to a change in civic protest, in which individual criminal attacks replaced the organized revolt of the 14th century. Cohn blames this shift on economic factors (the widening wealth gap caused Medici-era patricians to revitalize the city center while pushing poorer citizens towards the walls) and immigration patterns (more and more foreign citizens were moving to the city, and lacking of a knowledge of Florentine culture and language tended to keep to themselves and further fragment the class).
Again, lots of interesting ideas but a somewhat impenetrable read. The majority of the text outlines the parameters for Cohn's statistical analysis and it's not light reading. I also get the feeling that his distinctions are a bit artificial: quantitative analysis requires isolating variables and placing things in particular categories, and I'm not sure that necessarily works for a civic environment like Florence. It almost reads like someone setting up a scientific experiment at times, but history from this period doesn't provide nearly enough data for that to be a completely convincing approach.
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September 21, 2012Resource for "Criminality and the State in Renaissance Florence, 1344-1466."
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews