Microhistory is not something that gained popularity until the 1970s and Gene Brucker certainly demonstrates the vitality of understanding the ways of the past, from a more human aspect. While Giovanni and Lusanna’s storyline is valuable to historians, the Pièce de résistance is how seamlessly the numerous records and references have been included. This highlights the rigor in keeping records and notarial documents in 15th century Florence and in this case the notes taken by Felippo Mazzei prove extremely valuable. Through a combination of primary and secondary sources, Brucker presents arguments on the nature of social hierarchy, justice and the concept of marriage in Early Modern Europe that formulate our basic understanding of the time. …show more content…
Therefore it is not surprising that Giovanni ended up marrying Marietta Rucellai (Book, 79). He talks about their conduct in the country “fifteen miles east of Florence” (pg. 22) and their suspected sexual love affair (pg.29, 30). He also uses testimonies to recount the actual marriage ceremony (pg. 19,20). Each time Brucker writes about an even he supports it with a testimony from the trial. The heavy reliance on testimonials has both value and limitations. Brucker is able to accurately portray people from various social and socioeconomic classes, which is possibly the most valuable aspect of this source. Furthermore, the use of testimonies allows Brucker to accurately paint the story of the actual marriage by the fact that five people gave slightly different accounts of what occurred. While the varying accounts do not tell us the sequence of events accurately, they prove as substantial evidence for the occurrence of the marriage (“Had the story been fabricated, it would have been a tidier account”(pg.21)). Additionally, the secretiveness of the wedding would have prevented local newspapers from picking up the story therefore placing witness testimonies as the only source of