History, Anthropology, Religions

LISA ROSCIONI

The course aims to provide knowledge and understanding of the methodological, critical and applicable aspects of the Discipline; it proposes geographical areas and sectorial perspectives in which related projects are activated; it shows the variability of fields of interest; it enables the student to master the specific topics in order to use them and apply them in other fields of study while using the correct specific language. With the acquired knowledge the student will be able to develop autonomous ability of connections with other disciplines in the various historical epochs and cultural contexts.

Basic historical knowledge

From Trial to Scaffold. Paths of Justice in the Early Modern Age

This course offers a journey through the history of justice in the early modern age, following the itinerary that leads from crime to trial and, in many cases, to capital execution. Judicial sources — interrogation records, depositions, sentences — provide a privileged vantage point on the society of the Ancien Régime: through them emerge conflicts, behaviours, beliefs and voices that rarely leave any other trace. The course examines the workings of the courts (ordinary, ecclesiastical, inquisitorial), their procedures, the system of proof and the role of confession, up to the public and ritual dimension of punishment. Through the study of concrete cases, it also addresses the methodological problems posed by the use of trial records as a historical source: their mediated nature, the construction of truth in court, and the relationship between the words of the accused and those of the judges. The course aims to give students a first critical approach to judicial sources and to situate them within the broader social, cultural and institutional context of the early modern age.

1. L. Tedoldi, La spada e la bilancia. La giustizia penale nell'Europa moderna (secc. XVI-XVIII), Roma, Carocci, 2008
2. L. Puppi, Liturgia delle esecuzioni capitali e iconografia del martirio nell'arte europea dal XII al XIX secolo, in Id., Lo splendore dei supplizi : liturgia delle esecuzioni capitali e iconografia del martirio nell'arte europea dal 12. al 19. secolo, Milano, Berenice, 1990, pp. 11-67 (PDF disponibile su Classroom)

Un gruppo a scelta tra i seguenti (vanno studiati ENTRAMBI i testi indicati nel gruppo):

3.1
L. Roscioni, Virginia de Leyva. La monaca di Monza. Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2026
S. Feci, L'acquetta di Giulia. Mogli avvelenatrici e mariti violenti nella Roma del Seicento, Roma, Viella, 2025.

3.2
C. Ginzburg, Il formaggio e i vermi. Il cosmo di un mugnaio del '500, Milano, Adelphi, 2019
L. Roscioni, La badessa di Castro. Storia di uno scandalo, Bologna, il Mulino, 2019

3.3
N. Zemon Davis, Il ritorno di Martin Guerre. Un caso di doppia identità nella Francia del ‘500, Roma, Officina Libraria, 2022
L. Roscioni, Lo smemorato di Collegno. Storia italiana di un’identità contesa, Torino, Einaudi, 2009

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On class

Oral evaluation and presentation of individual work

Critical examination of the texts in the program