...Chris Smith section 431 Giovanni and Lusanna The Renaissance is often imagined by many as a magical time. It was a period where the human race produced the most interesting inventions and profound ideals that later became the foundation for the modern culture and government we know today. However, hidden beneath the blanket of magic was a time full of unrest, political corruption, and old traditional ideals that developed into unwritten “rules” forced upon society. Guiding behaviors such as how a “good” wife or a “good” widow should behave, or such “rules” notably broken are prevalent in the famous true story of Giovanni and Lusanna. It is a Renaissance chronicle about a woman who is set out to tell the truth but reveals too much of herself and her rogue ways. Lusanna’s actions questioned the unwritten “rules “of Renaissance society and whether or not enforcing them was right or wrong. Lusanna was a beautiful Florentine woman who was married to an Artisan man named Andrea Nucci of low class Florence. She met and fell in love with Giovanni while she was still married to Andrea Nucci. Giovanni, a noble man of great class and status, loved her as well. He had promised to marry her if her husband were to die. His luck came true and Lusanna’s husband passed away. Giovanni fulfilled his promise and married the widow shortly after the death of her husband. It was a marriage that, before long, turned into political unrest as Giovanni decided to marry another woman. He insisted...
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...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. Although Brucker relies mostly on court documents as evidence, he relies as heavily on his previous knowledge of mid-fifteenth century Florentine society to tell the most accurate version of the Giovanni and Lusanna story. This essay will focus on the notarial protocols houses in the archives of Florence and the testimony of witnesses, both primary sources, to evaluate the value and limitation of using both types of sources. The witness testimonies provide key details about their courtship as well as about the perception of love in Florentine society. On the other hand, notarial records offer evidence about the legal system at the time. Notarial documents and witness testimonies will be evaluated in terms of OPVL (origin, purpose, value and limitation). While it wasn’t atypical for men to marry women less wealthy families (O’Neill, Lecture 4), prominent families tended to marry within themselves to increase the net family value. Therefore it is not...
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