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Hardcover, 688 pages.
Publisher: Belknap Press, 2003.
ISBN: 0674400011
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The History of Private Life series of books traces a clear line
from how society moved from an entirely-public to an almost
entirely-private way of life. Along the way, it also shows how people's
perceptions of themselves, their homes, their families, and their
possessions changed, and how their ways of celebrating life events
changed. Of course, within the confines of those examinations are hundreds
of pages of details about everyday life in Italy during the
Renaissance.
Though I'm not a real fan of Duby's writing (it can be a little dry,
which isn't surprising given that it's just about all translated from
French), he's not writing most of this book--just editing for the most
part--so you need have no fears that it's not readable. This book is an
absolute treasure-trove of information for researchers.
Among the chapters in this book:
Introduction: Private Power, Public Power. Definitions from
Latin and other languages of the very words "public" and
"private".
Portraits: Aristocratic Households of Feudal France.
Ecclesiastical life, visions of heaven and hell, how people interacted
with the buildings they'd created, power structures within the family and
church and rulers, customs of hospitality and how
strangers/visitors/travelers were treated, and more. Plenty of info about
daily life in monasteries and nunneries, and how families lived. Info
about servants, serfs, wedding customs, how kids were treated and how they
were educated and raised, and so much more.
Tuscan Notables on the Eve of the Renaissance. This is the
part most people will like a lot. Just about everything you could ever
want is in here. No citations, which is irritating, but you'll find here a
clear line drawn from the previous attitudes toward public and private
life, and how that evolved into the pageantry and pomp and outward show
that was a Florentine's life. Births, weddings, family structure, men and
women and how they related, what happened when they died, how literature
treated subjects like homosexuality and adultery, how the Church twined
itself into just about every aspect of daily life, and how servants and
slaves were treated. Really, name a subject and it's in here somewhere, at
least in passing.
There are plenty of photos of architecture and artwork too, which is
sure to please; the buildings are particularly impressive, especially the
various stark-faced palaces of the obscenely wealthy. And, too, the
literature quoted here is perfectly illustrative. All of this chapter
serves to create a step toward how people began to see themselves as
private entities with boundaries clearly drawn between themselves and
the outer world.
Imagining the Self. Now we move toward a world where
language shapes, and is shaped by, new ways of seeing one's relationship
with the Divine and the outside world. The veiled language of allegory
(such as "garden" meaning a place that is private but ideal for meetings),
how-to books and their advice of how to safeguard privacy and how to
courteously provide privacy to others, and narrative arts and how they
show us the new ways of seeing enclosed worlds like nunneries and private
homes.
Civilizing the Fortress: 11th to 13th Century. The
protective functions of castles in this time period, and their general
outlay and architecture. Examinations of their main parts, such as a large
section devoted to how people interacted with the main hall, and how these
became more livable and less single-mindedly protective as time went
on.
Peasant Hearth to Papal Palace: The 14th and 15th Centuries.
Taxation, the meanings of the word "hearth" and how it applied
specifically to the family unit and home. Composition of Italian
households and the kind of houses they had; how tax records show us what
the houses were like and what sort of rooms they had in them. The kind of
food that was eaten and how meals were taken. Farms, parks, estate
enclosures, convents and their very enclosed lands, and diagrams of house
plans from the era. Even dimensions of hallways and corridors are
included. Convenience features like private wells, and how the family
thought of their houses. From there we move to the really big houses, like
papal palaces, with the same sort of information: where people lived, what
rooms were called and how they specialized, and diagrams of house plans.
Furniture, too.
Solitude: 11th to 13th Century. How people in such crowded
cities managed to find personal space. How individualization is shown by
the various religious sculptures of the time, and in the biographies that
were written then. The Carthusian heresy and how it related to a greater
view of privacy. Literature of knights-errant and courtly love and its
role in displaying and promoting the idea of private life and obedience.
Enforced silence and obedience being a sign of withdrawal from the public
eye. How the physical body's depictions in art and literature goes from a
concept of being dangerous to one of being pleasurable.
Toward Intimacy: The 14th and 15th Centuries.The invention
of subjectivity. Family memoirs (particularly by Giovanni Morelli and
Donato Velluti) and how they are kept private and also seen as a form of
civic duty, but also a display of a narcissism hitherto unseen. Signs and
codes to delineate one group from another--keeping a 'club' private from
society's main eye. How bodily functions came to be seen as improper for
public viewing. Bathing and how it came to be seen as essential. Religious
exaltation seen as one way spirituality was kept separate from secular
life.
Of course, there's an extensive index and bibliography; the index
leaves out a bit, but overall it's useful. The bibliography also includes
photo credits in case you want to go hunt down one or more of the visual
aids in the book. As you can imagine this book is absolutely huge, over
600 pages! And just about all of it's useful to research. Don't miss this
one. Thankfully, it's not expensive at all; I got mine for less than $10
used.
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