Università Roma Tre

The government of Justice in Early Modern Italy

After a methodological introduction focused on the use of sources for the study of the history of the Early Modern age, the course will continue exploring issues related to the government of justice in Early Modern Italy intended as a privileged framework of the process of affirmation of State authority but also as a fundamental ground of social mediation.

• M.P. Paoli (a cura di), Nel laboratorio della storia. Una guida alle fonti dell’età moderna, Roma, Carocci Editore.
• M. Bellabarba, La giustizia nell’Italia moderna. XVI-XVIII secolo, Roma-Bari, Laterza.

The history of marriage between social practices and cultural constructs

The Sixteenth century is a turning point in the history of marriage. Fully confirmed by the Catholic Church in its sacramental character following the Protestant questioning, "Tridentine" marriage - and the draft regulation that followed - left a deep mark not only on the social structures of Catholic Europe but also on its most proper cultural dimension. Concubinage was definitely criminalized, such as any other form, judged as "outrageous", of personal relationship and sexual practice. During the Early Modern period the Church and the States sought to transform, through their repressive apparatus but also through legislation and doctrinal production, these hidden areas into objects of "knowledge" and thus to control and regulate them, exercising on them a "power" that varied in space and time. The purpose of this module will be to provide some details on the action of ecclesiastical justice in the marriage sphere mainly in the Italian context durinf a time span ranging from the 15th to the 18th century.

• D. Lombardi, Storia del matrimonio. Dal Medioevo a oggi, Bologna, Il Mulino.
• M. Cavina, Nozze di sangue. Storia della violenza coniugale, Roma-Bari, Laterza.