Prostitution, repentance, and civic welfare in Renaissance Florence

Jack, Gillian (2023). Prostitution, repentance, and civic welfare in Renaissance Florence. In: Fehler, Timothy G. and Thomley, Jared B. eds. Do good unto all: Charity and poor relief across Christian Europe, 1400–1800. Studies in Early Modern European History. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, pp. 231–249.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7765/9781526162489.00019

Abstract

The monastery of Sant'Elisabetta delle Convertite was established by an act of private charity in 1332 to provide a refuge for women trapped in prostitution by poverty. It was soon one of the most populous in the city but remained one of the poorest. Most female religious houses relied on donations from the wealthy families of resident nuns. The nuns of Sant'Elisabetta rarely had enduring familial relationships and those who did had relatives too poor to make significant donations. Instead, Sant'Elisabetta subsisted on ad hoc charity, chiefly provided by neighbours who stepped in where family could not. However, Sant'Elisabetta sat in a poor district of Florence, populated by immigrants to the city and low-skilled, low-paid workers who could not afford substantial or regular charitable donations. This chapter will argue that as the monastery became an increasingly important part of civic attempts to provide social welfare to prostitutes, the city authorities attempted a variety of methods to shore up its perilous finances. Changing civic approaches to prostitution created new drives to provide social welfare to repentant prostitutes, and these crystallised in the form of turning a religious institution into a civic institution, part of the grand ducal administration’s attempts to rationalise, control, and unify Florence’s poor relief.

Viewing alternatives

Metrics

Item Actions

Export

You can export this page using these formats Digital Object Identifier - DOI