Roman Tales - A Reader''s Guide to the Art of Microhistory

Roman Tales: A Reader's Guide to the Art of Microhistory explores both the social and cultural life of Renaissance Rome and the mind-set and methods of microhistory.

This book draws the reader deep into eight stories: a Christian-Jewish picnic plus an ill-aimed stone fight, an embassy-driven attack on Rome's police, a magic prophetic mirror, an immured mad hermit, a stolen dwarf, and the bizarre misadventures of a stolen roll of velvet, a truly odd elopement, and a thieving child who treats his cronies to dinner at the inn. It meditates on the resources and lacunae that shape the telling of these stories and, through them, it models an historical method that contrives to turn the limits of our knowledge into an advantage by writing honestly and movingly, to bring a dead past back to life, exemplifying and stretching the genre of microhistory. It also discusses strategies for teaching through intensive use of old documents, with a particular focus on criminal tribunal papers.

Engagingly written, Roman Tales outlines the main principles of microhistorical research and draws the reader outwards towards a wider exploration and discovery of sixteenth-century Rome. It is ideal for researchers of microhistory, and of medieval and early modern Italy.

List of contents

Ackowledgements; Abbreviations; 1 First Thoughts; 2 If on a Summer's Eve a Traveller, or Two; 3 White Angel; 4 The Spanish Ambassador's Brawl; 5 Hermit on Trial; 6 The Case of the Purloined Dwarf; 7 Black Velvet's Odd Adventure; 8 Nicolina Runs Away; 9 A Boy Steals Gold; Afterword

About the author

Thomas V. Cohen is a professor of history at York University, Canada. His previous publications include Love and Death in Renaissance Italy (2004).

Summary

Roman Tales: A Reader’s Guide to the Art of Microhistory explores both the social and cultural life of Renaissance Rome and the mind-set and methods of microhistory. It is ideal for researchers of microhistory, and of medieval and early modern Italy.

Product details

• Authors: Thomas V. Cohen, Thomas V. (York University Cohen, Cohen Thomas V.
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 30.06.2021
• EAN: 9781032092485
• ISBN: 978-1-0-3209248-5
• No. of pages: 224
• Series: Microhistories
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Antiquity; European History, History: theory & methods, HISTORY / General, Social & cultural history, HISTORY / Modern / 16th Century, HISTORY / Middle East / Israel & Palestine, HISTORY / Europe / Italy, CE period up to c 1500, c 1500 onwards to present day, Medieval History, Social and cultural history, Ancient History, Classical history / classical civilisation, Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700, History and Archaeology, European history: medieval period, middle ages, HISTORY / Europe / Medieval, History: theory and methods