Crimini, violenza e corruzione nel Bagno di Livorno: gli schiavi "turchi" in alcuni processi del XVII secolo
(2016) La città delle Nazioni. Livorno e i limiti del cosmopolitismo (1566-1834) — ISBN: [978-88-6741-630-1], p. 93-107, published
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- Abstract
- (en) The myth of a «tolerant» and cosmopolitan Livorno has often obscured the reality of a city that during the 17th century housed a huge prison (the Bagno), built to better monitor the galley slaves and the convicts to forced labor. They were the protagonists of a complex criminal life: they stole, rebelled against their keepers and killed each other, whilst city officials argued over who had the authority to judge crimes committed by convicts. Their survival depended also on their ability to adapt to the mechanisms of oppression and corruption typical of a prison society, as it is shown by a mid-century inquiry against the captain of the Bagno, accused of extorting money from the inmates in exchange for better treatment. Through the examination of some criminal trials recorded in the Medici archives, this paper tries to bring to light the less known aspects of the life of Livorno’s Muslim slaves, such as the possibility, granted to them, to act in court by taking an oath «in the Turkish way». Although in a context often violent and irregular, they participated in the creation of a society characterized by the interaction between people of different languages and religions.
- Affiliations
École française de Rome
Citations
Santus, C. (2016). Crimini, violenza e corruzione nel Bagno di Livorno: gli schiavi “turchi” in alcuni processi del XVII secolo. In Andrea Addobbati, Marcella Aglietti (eds.) (ed.), La città delle Nazioni. Livorno e i limiti del cosmopolitismo (1566-1834) (Pisa University Press, p. p. 93-107). Pisa University Press. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/222094