The Black Widows of the Eternal City: The True Story of Rome's Most Infamous Poi

Description: The Black Widows of the Eternal City by Craig A. Monson An intriguing and well-researched account behind the dozens of female poisoners in seventeenth-century Rome FORMAT Hardcover LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description The Black Widows of the Eternal City offers, for the first time, a book-length study of an infamous cause célèbre in seventeenth-century Rome, how it resonated then and has continued to resonate: the 1659 investigation and prosecution of Gironima Spana and dozens of Roman widows, who shared a particularly effective poison to murder their husbands. This notorious case has been frequently discussed over 350 years, but the earliest writers concentrated more on fortifying their reading constituencys shared attitudes than accurately narrating facts. Subsequent authors remained largely content to follow their predecessors or keen to improve upon them. Most recent writers and bloggers were unaware that their earlier sources were generally unconcerned with a correct portrayal of real events.In the present study, Craig A. Monson takes advantage of a recent discovery—the 1,450-page notarys transcript of the 1659 investigation. It is supplemented here by many ancillary archival sources, unknown to all previous writers. Since the story of Gironima Spana and the would-be widows is partially about what people believed to be true, however, this investigation also juxtaposes some of the "alternative facts" from earlier, sensational accounts with what the notarys transcript and other, more reliable archival documents reveal.Written in a style that avoids arcane idioms and specialist jargon, the book can potentially speak to students and general readers interested in seventeenth-century social history and gender issues. It rewrites the life story of Gironima Spana (largely unknown until now), who has dominated all earlier accounts, usually in caricatures that reiterate the tropes of witchcraft. It also concentrates on the dozen other widows whose stories could be the most recovered from archival sources and whom Spana had totally eclipsed in earlier accounts. Most were women "of a very ordinary sort" (prostitutes; beggars; wives of butchers, barbers, dyers, lineners, innkeepers), the kinds of women commonly lost to history. The book seeks to explain why some women were hanged (only six, in fact, most of whom may not have directly poisoned anyone), while dozens of others who did poison their husbands escaped the gallows and, in some cases, were not even interrogated. It also reveals what happened to these other alleged perpetrators, whose fates have remained unknown until now. Other purported culprits, about whom less complete pictures emerge, are briefly discussed in an appendix.The study incorporates illustrations of archival manuscripts to demonstrate the challenges of deciphering them and illustrates "scenes of the crime" and other important locations, identified on seventeenth-century, birds eye-perspective views of Rome and in modern photographs. It also includes GPS coordinates for any who might wish to revisit the sites. Author Biography Craig A. Monson is the Paul Tietjens Professor Emeritus of Music at Washington University in St. Louis and the author of several books, including, most recently, Nuns Behaving Badly (2010), Divas in the Convent (2012), and Habitual Offenders: A True Tale of Nuns, Prostitutes, and Murderers in 17th-century Italy (2016). He lives in St. Louis. Review "This is an engaging and well-constructed retelling of a notorious episode of husband-poisoning in seventeenth-century Rome... the narrative is clear and colourful; maps and photographs facilitate visualisation of the physical setting; and he borrows from some works of microhistory a recreation of the point-of-view of subaltern actors held in the gaze and grip of judicial power." - Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books * Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books * Review Quote "This is an engaging and well-constructed retelling of a notorious episode of husband-poisoning in seventeenth-century Rome... the narrative is clear and colourful; maps and photographs facilitate visualisation of the physical setting; and he borrows from some works of microhistory a recreation of the point-of-view of subaltern actors held in the gaze and grip of judicial power." - Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books Details ISBN0472132040 Author Craig A. Monson Publisher The University of Michigan Press Year 2020 ISBN-10 0472132040 ISBN-13 9780472132041 Format Hardcover Imprint The University of Michigan Press Subtitle The True Story of Romes Most Infamous Poisoners Place of Publication Ann Arbor Country of Publication United States Language English Pages 258 AU Release Date 2020-09-21 NZ Release Date 2020-09-21 UK Release Date 2020-09-21 Illustrations 20 illustrations DEWEY 364.1523092520945632 Audience Professional & Vocational Publication Date 2020-09-21 US Release Date 2020-09-21 We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:168381442;

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