The 15th century was a time of dramatic and decisive change for nuns and nunneries in Florence. In the course of that century, the city's convents evolved from small, semi-autonomous communities to large civic institutions. By 1552, roughly one in eight Florentine women lived in a religious community. Historian Sharon T. Strocchia analyzes this stunning growth of female monasticism, revealing the important roles these women and institutions played in the social, economic, and political history of Renaissance Florence. It became common practice during this time for unmarried women in elite society to enter convents. This unprecedented concentration of highly educated and well connected women transformed convents into sites of great patronage and social and political influence. As their economic influence also grew, convents found new ways of supporting themselves; they established schools, produced manuscripts, and manufactured textiles. Strocchia has mined previously untapped archival materials to uncover how convents shaped one of the principal cities of Renaissance Europe. She demonstrates how vital nuns and nunneries were to the booming Florentine textile industry; shows how ordinary nuns contributed to Florentine life in their roles as scribes, stewards, artisans, teachers, and community leaders; and argues that the ideals and institutions that defined Florence were influenced in great part by the city's powerful female monastics. Nuns and Nunneries in Renaissance Florence shows for the first time how religious women effected broad historical change and helped write the grand narrative of medieval and Renaissance Europe. The book is a valuable text for students and scholars in early modern European history, religion, women's studies, and economic history.
List of Tables, Graphs, and Figures Preface 1. The Growth of Florentine Convents Convents in Crisis The Midcentury Resurgence The Rush to the Convent 2. Nuns, Neighbors, and Kinsmen From Neighborhood Enclaves to Citywide Institutions Property and the Topography of Power Defenders of the Parish 3. The Renaissance Convent Economy The Structure of Convent Finance The Paradox of ''Private'' Wealth Balancing the Budget The Medici and the Monte 4. Invisible Hands: Renaissance Nuns at Work Economic Strategies and Opportunities The Century of Silk: Nuns and Textile Production Three Case Studies in Textile Work Books and Educational Activities 5. Contesting the Boundaries of Enclosure The Practice of Open Reclusion, 13001450 Privatization, Enclosure, and Reform, 14301500 The Florentine ''Night Officers'' Ecclesiastical Reform Initiatives, 15001540 Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index
""Strocchia has written a judicious, balanced, and meticulously researched book, one that is drawn from a splendid breadth of archival sources and that makes a major contribution to our understanding of the complex and changing relationships between ecclesiastical institutions, family strategy, and civic consciousness.""
