Sex and Gender in Historical Perspective: Selections from Quaderni Storici - Selections from Quaderni Storici

Jacket Description/Back: How we did the "fallen" women of Bologna regain their lost honor as wives or nuns? Why did the church need to control the "quasi-magical" power of female fertility? What did working women do to transform the factory environment-- as well as their social identity? In the microstoria of Italian scholars, good stories make even better history. "Sex and Gender in Historical Perspective"-- the inaugural volume of Selections from Quaderni Storici-- looks at sexual mores and gender roles in European social history of popular culture, these scholars present a broad and highly original view of human history. Taking a microhistorical approach, they explore topics including witchcraft and sexual intercourse, folk explanations of "monstrous" births, the reception of syphilis in Europe, sexual honor, female roles in Christian spiritual practices, and women in "men's jobs". Without losing sight of larger historical themes or societal structures, the authors offer a refreshingly particular and subtle view of everyday people, their hopes and visions, and their words. Drawing from archives and manuscripts that have received little attention until now, "Sex and Gender in Historical Perspective" illuminates the cultural and political forces that shaped gender perception and sexuality over the centuries and offers an engaging and powerful challenge to current assumptions. Review Quotes: "These superb new translations offer new perspectives on women's history to English-language readers and, as Guido Ruggiero notes in the Introduction, effectively promote the use of gender as a category of analysis." -- Jeffrey R. Watt, Sixteenth Century JournalReview Quotes:"These superb new translations offer new perspectives on women's history to English-language readers and, as Guido Ruggiero notes in the Introduction, effectively promote the use of gender as a category of analysis." -- Jeffrey R. Watt, Sixteenth Century JournalMarc Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.; Translated from the Italian. Review Quotes: These superb new translations offer new perspectives on women's history to English-language readers and, as Guido Ruggiero notes in the Introduction, effectively promote the use of gender as a category of analysis.--Jeffrey R. Watt "The Sixteenth Century Journal "Publisher Marketing: The inaugural volume of Selections from Quaderni Storici looks at sexual mores and gender in European social history from the Renaissance to the twelfth century.

Contributor Bio:  Muir, Edward Edward Muir is the Ver Steeg Professor of History at Northwestern University. He is the editor, with Guido Ruggiero, of Sex and Gender in Historical Perspective and Microhistory and the Lost Peoples of Europe. Contributor Bio:  Ruggiero, Guido Guido Ruggiero is College of Arts and Sciences Cooper Fellow and Professor of History at the University of Miami. As an author, editor and translator, he has published more than two dozen books on the Renaissance and related topics including, most recently, Machiavelli in Love: Sex, Self, and Society in Renaissance Italy (2007) and The Blackwell Companion to the Worlds of the Renaissance (2002). His articles have appeared in many journals, including The American Historical Review, The Journal of Social History, Viator, The Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Science, Xin shehui shi (New Social History), Studi storici and Quaderni storici. He has also published numerous essays and articles in edited volumes. Ruggiero has won a number of fellowships including a Guggenheim Fellowship; two National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowships; several Delmas Foundation, Orowitz and Taft Fellowships; as well as an ACLS Fellowship. He is an elected member of the Ateneo Veneto and has been a Fellow or Visiting Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, Harvard's Villa I Tatti in Florence and the American Academy in Rome. Contributor Bio:  Gallucci, Margaret A Margaret A. Gallucci has taught at Syracuse University in Florence, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Michigan.