Abandoned Children of the Italian Renaissance

Orphan Care in Florence and Bologna
Erscheinungsjahr 2005
ISBN: 978-0-8018-8184-8
Verlag: Johns Hopkins University Press

Buch, Englisch, Band 123, 368 Seiten, Format (B × H): 159 mm x 239 mm, Gewicht: 644 g

Reihe: The Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science

In the early development of the modern Italian state, individual orphanages were a reflection of the intertwining of politics and charity.

Nearly half of the children who lived in the cities of the late Italian Renaissance were under fifteen years of age. Grinding poverty, unstable families, and the death of a parent could make caring for these young children a burden. Many were abandoned, others orphaned. At a time when political rulers fashioned themselves as the "fathers" of society, these cast-off children presented a very immediate challenge and opportunity.

In Bologna and Florence, government and private institutions pioneered orphanages to care for the growing number of homeless children. Nicholas Terpstra discusses the founding and management of these institutions, the procedures for placing children into them, the children's daily routine and education, and finally their departure from these homes. He explores the role of the city-state and considers why Bologna and Florence took different paths in operating the orphanages. Terpstra finds that Bologna's orphanages were better run, looked after the children more effectively, and were more successful in returning their wards to society as productive members of the city's economy. Florence's orphanages were larger and harsher, and made little attempt to reintegrate children into society.

Based on extensive archival research and individual stories, Abandoned Children of the Italian Renaissance demonstrates how gender and class shaped individual orphanages in each city's network and how politics, charity, and economics intertwined in the development of the early modern state.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Terpstra, Nicholas

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Tables, Graphs, and Figures
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Down and Out and Off the Streets: Sheltering Renaissance Children
Chapter 1: Opening a Home
Chapter 2: Entering a Home: Prescriptions and Procedures
Chapter 3: Making a Home with Girls
Chapter 4: Making a Home with Boys
Chapter 5: Running a Home
Chapter 6: Leaving Home
Conclusion: The Politics of Renaissance Orphanages
Appendix: Institutional Finances
Notes
Bibliography

Über Autor(innen)

Terpstra, Nicholas
Nicholas Terpstra (TORONTO, ON) is a professor of history at the University of Toronto.