Non-elite or marginalized early modern women—among them the poor, migrants, members of religious or ethnic minorities, abused or abandoned wives, servants, and sex workers—have seldom left records of their experiences. Drawing on a variety of sources, including trial records, administrative paperwork, letters, pamphlets, hagiography, and picaresque literature, this volume explores how, as social agents, these doubly invisible women built and used networks and informal alliances to supplement the usual structures of family and community that often let them down. Ten essays, ranging widely in geography from the eastern Mediterranean to colonial Spanish America and in time from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, show how flexible, sometimes ad hoc relationships could provide crucial practical and emotional support for women who faced problems of livelihood, reputation, displacement, and violence.
- Cover
- Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Elizabeth S. Cohen and Marlee J. Couling
- Part I Mediterranean Crossings
- 1. Going Beyond Montagu
- The Network of Subaltern Women in the Turkish Embassy, 1716–1718
- 2. Gendered Naming Practices among Coptic Christians in Sixteenth-Century Cairo
- 3. The “Queen of Algiers”
- An Enterprising Renegade in the Rome of Pope Sixtus V
- 4. An Exotic Migrant, Despina Basaraba Networks a New Life in Papal Rome circa 1600
- Part II Local Networks in Europe
- 5. Domestic Violence and Networks of Female Support in Seventeenth-Century England
- 6. The Place-Based Networks of Sex Workers in Sixteenth-Century Venice
- 7. Making a Name in Music
- Professional and Social Strategies of the Musicians at the Venetian Ospedali Maggiori
- 8. Food and Drink Make Relationships
- Female Alliances and Commensality in Celestina and La Lozana andaluza
- Part III Body and Spirit in Colonial Spanish America
- 9. “Wall Neighbors,” Mothers-in-Law, and Comadres
- Spousal Violence and Networks of Plebeian Female Intimacy and Solidarity in Urban Neighborhoods of Early to Mid-Colonial New Spain (1550–1670)
- 10. Far from the Margins
- Non-elite Single Women and Spiritual Networking in Colonial Guatemala*
- Brianna Leavitt-Alcántara
- Supplementary Bibliography of Secondary Works
- Index
- List of Illustrations
- Figure I.1 Pieter Isaacsz, The Women of Rome Gathering at the Capitol, 1600–1602. As women of varied ages and ranks network, Papirius’s mother consults with the government councillors (right). Oil paint on copper, 41.5 x 62 cm. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Net
- Figure 1.1 Daniel Chodowiecki, frontispiece to Letters of the Right Honourable Lady Mary Wortley Montague, 1781. Etching on paper. 177 × 109 mm. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
- Figure 1.2 Jean Baptiste Haussard (engraver), Jean Baptiste Vanmour (artist), Fille Turque à qui l’on tresse les cheveux au bain, 1714. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Art & Architecture Collection, The New York Publ
- Figure 1.3 Jean Baptiste Vanmour (attributed to), Lady Mary Wortley Montagu with her son, Edward Wortley Montagu, and attendants, ca. 1717. Oil on canvas, 696 × 909mm. National Portrait Gallery, London, UK.
- Figure 3.1 Domenico Poggini, Camilla Peretti, Sister of Pope Sixtus V, 1590. Bronze medal, diameter 4.71 cm. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
- Figure 3.2 Giovanni Maggi, The Woman from Africa, in Giovanni Francesco Bordini, De rebus praeclarus gestis a Sixto V. Pon. Max., 1588, p. 30. Engraving, 21.2 × 13.8cm. Photograph, Bibiotheca Hertziana, Rome, Italy.
- Figure 3.3 Giulia Orsini, mid-16th century. Bronze medal, diameter 5.23 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
- Figure 3.4 Sfacchiotta from Candia, from Cesare Vecellio, De gli habiti antichi et moderni di diversi parti del mondo, 1590, p. 424v. Woodcut, 16.7 × 12.5 cm. Tisch Library, Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA.
- Figure 6.1 Parishes of Venice: A. San Marcuola; B. San Canciano (Biri); C. Santa Maria Formosa; D. San Giovanni Novo; E. San Moisè; F. San Cassiano; G. San Giacomo dell’Orio.
- Figure 6.2 Rialto Commercial district and surroundings. Gondola landing: A. Buso di Rialto. Approximate Rialto brothel sites: B. Municipal brothel, est. 1460; C. Municipal brothel, est. 1360. Sites associated with sex work: D. Calle della Botta; E. Ca’ Ra
- Figure 6.3 San Marco and parishes of Santa Maria Formosa and San Giovanni Novo: A. Piazza San Marco; B. Basilica of San Marco; C. Palazzo Ducale; D. Riva degli Schiavoni; E. Campo San Giovanni Novo; F. Campo Santa Maria Formosa. Legend: ▬▬ Boundary of par
- Figure 6.4 Parishes of Santa Maria Formosa and Sani Giovanni Novo, detail: A. Calle Longa; B. Church of Santa Maria Formosa; C. Ruga Giuffa; D. Calle de l’Inferno; E. Calle and Ramo Querini, and Corte Nova; F. Bathhouse; G. Church of San Giovanni Novo; H.
- Figure 6.5 Sestiere of Cannaregio: A. Cannaregio Canal; B. Jewish Ghetto; C. Campo Sant’Alvise; D. Ponte de l’Aseo; E. Calle and Corte dei Muti; F. Campo San Marziale; G. Campo Santa Maria Maddalena; H. Calle Longa Santa Caterina; I. Fondamenta Santa Cate
- Figure 6.6 Pote de l’Aseo, Cannaregio [detail, Figure 5D]: A. Jewish Ghetto. Sites associated with sex work: B. Calle del Forno; C. Calle Lezze; D. Ponte de l’Aseo; E. Calle and Corte della Bolza; F. Calle de l’Aseo; G. Fondamenta de la Misericordia. Lege
- Figure 6.7 Ponte de l’Aseo intersection [see Figures 5D and 6D]: Bridges: Ponte de l’Aseo (center); Ponte dei Lustraferri (right). Canals: Rio della Misericordia (center); Rio dei Lustraferri (right). Quays: Fondamenta Misericordia (foreground); Fondament
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