(I) Women, work, and family in early modern Italian cities
Wednesday, June 17 (morning)
CLASSROOM: 207
10:30–12:00
Economic resources for women in the capital cities of early modern Italian States.
-Anna Bellavitis, Université de Rouen Normandie
anna.bellavitis@univ-rouen.fr
-Corine Maitte, Université Gustave Eiffel
corine.maitte@univ-eiffel.fr
Women’s work in the printing industry, Rome, 16th-18th century.
Marina Formica, Università di Roma “Tor Vergata”,
marina.formica@uniroma2.it
Women’s Work and Urban Economies: Female Labour in the Silk Industry in Early Modern Naples (17thCentury).
Alice Boeri, Università Suor Orsola Benincasa
aliceboeri@outlook.it
Margins of the Port: Women’s Work Between Law and Illegality in Genoa and Venice in the Late Eighteenth Century
Francesca Ferrando, Università di Verona
francescaferrando88@hotmail.it
(II) Women, work, and family in early modern Italian cities
Wednesday, June 17 (morning)
CLASSROOM: 207
12:00–13:30
Women and work in the female conservatories: the case of the Conservatorio delle Pericolanti in Rome.
Emma Pietroletti, Università di Roma Tre
emma.pietroletti@uniroma3.it
Labor, Discipline, and Dowry: Female Work as a Tool of Social Reintegration in Roman Conservatories (18th–Early 19th Century)
Francesca Palumbo, Università di Perugia,
Francesca.palumbo97@hotmail.com
The textile manufacturing of the Real Monte della Pietà female orphanage in Barletta: training, work organisation and economic activity (18th-19th centuries).
Angela Carbone, Università di Bari Aldo Moro,
angela.carbone@uniba.it
Women’s Work in the Urban Economy of Évora, 1750-91: A Southern European Case
Isa Maria Moreira Liz, University of Evora
isamariamliz@gmail.com
Working Group Labour and Family Economy, ELHN conference 2026
– Anna Bellavitis, Université de Rouen Normandie, : anna.bellavitis@univ-rouen.fr
Corine Maitte, Université Gustave Eiffel, corine.maitte@univ-eiffel.fr
Economic resources for women in the capital cities of early modern Italian States.
The paper proposes some results of the research conducted within the Project: DEFI: Droits, Economies, Femmes Italie: Gender and Agency in Venice, Florence, Naples, Palermo, 16th-18th century (Agence Nationale de la Recherche, 2024-2027). The capital cities of early modern Italian States were among the largest and most populated European cities of the time. These four cities were chosen for their importance and specificity: seats of governments, of religious and welfare institutions, they reflect the variety of socio-economic contexts of the Italian states. Three of them – Venice, Naples and Palermo – were ports, and while historians have shown the opportunities that maritime economies could give to women in the early modern period, very little research has been devoted to Mediterranean ports. The choice of the urban environment is indeed linked to its specificities and its importance in Italian economy: a labour market which is both controlled and regulated by municipal institutions and guilds but at the same time a space which offers multiple possibilities, whether legal or illegal, clandestine or shadow work being a characteristic of women’s work in these times. The project spreads out from a general dissatisfaction with the way the Italian reality is ignored by most studies on the role of women’s economic activities in the evolution of European economies as well as a general dissatisfaction with the use of outdated (e.g. Mediterranean family) or questionable (EMP) categories in family history. It aims to reconstruct women’s economic activities and their role in response to crisis – economic, political, but also family crises – and it is using a large ensemble of sources: legal – laws and practices-; institutional – municipal, guilds, charity institutions – ; private and notary archives.
-Marina Formica, Università di Roma “Tor Vergata”, marina.formica@uniroma2.it
Women’s work in the printing industry, Rome, 16th-18th century.
We know how even before Pope Pius IV established the first official printing house in Rome (1561), calling in Paolo Manuzio – Aldo’s son – from Venice, various commercial activities related to the world of books were concentrated. In response to the needs of an expanding territory, characterised by the presence of the “scholae” of the University and the libraries adjacent to the churches of S. Agostino and S. Maria sopra Minerva, in the area “iuxta Campum Flore” several artisan workshops had in fact sprung up engaged in the sale of printed and manuscript books, paper and parchments, micro-businesses supported by rudimentary printing works. And it was not uncommon for members of the same family to be engaged in them, regardless of gender, sometimes with strictly manual jobs, sometimes with organisational and decision-making commitments. Alongside this, there was a variegated world of copyists, illuminators, and papermakers, also frequented by multiple and often cohabiting presences.
If, unfortunately, many aspects of these diversified professional figures still elude us, as far as women engaged in the book crafts are concerned, we are completely unaware of both the nature and timing of their training and the margins of their work. In which branches did they work? Did they have relationships with the authors of the volumes? Were they in any way in the commissioning of a text? Were they only self-taught or were they previously literate? And what role did they play in the transmission of their knowledge to their heirs?
These are just some of the questions that should animate the research I am about to undertake and of which I would like to propose some avenues of study through the examination of some distinct biographical paths between the 16th, 16th and 18th centuries. The case of Girolama Cartolari, in fact, now known to specialists in the field, was anything but exceptional. Through the vicissitudes of Lavinia, Ludmilla and Vittoria Komarek, for the 17th century, and Caterina Chracas, for the 18th, I therefore aim to offer some insights into a still submerged world (at least fifty female printers that I have been able to identify at the moment).
-Alice Boeri, Università Suor Orsola Benincasa, Napoli, aliceboeri@outlook.it
Women’s Work and Urban Economies: Female Labour in the Silk Industry in Early Modern Naples (17thCentury).
My paper aims to explore the economic role of women in the silk industry in early modern Naples, drawing on judicial documents preserved in the Consolato dell’Arte della Seta collection at the Archivio di Stato of Naples. Focusing on the second half of the 17th century, a period characterised by recurring socio-economic tensions, the article examines how women were involved in a complex and highly regulated craft economy in one of Europe’s largest cities and a key urban centre of the Spanish monarchy.
Civil and criminal proceedings document the role of women as plaintiffs, witnesses and defendants in cases involving unpaid wages, failure to deliver materials and the production of substandard goods. Although numerically limited, their presence is constant and significant. These sources reveal women’s ability to assert their economic claims, manage credit and debt, and operate within this legal and professional framework. Although existing studies on the Neapolitan silk industry have highlighted the extent of women’s involvement, they have rarely explored in depth their economic agency, specific economic roles, and the strategies adopted by women in this sector. The analysis proposed here seeks to fill this gap by showing how women managed opportunities and constraints, both within and outside formal production structures. Particular attention is paid to the consequences of the plague of 1656, a demographic and economic turning point for Naples. In this context, judicial documents show a marked increase in the presence of women, even in illegal or marginal activities. Rather than signaling exclusion from the formal economy, this involvement indicates the continuing, and sometimes expanded, role of women in supporting the family economy in times of crisis.
By examining these judicial records, my paper seeks to shed light on the concrete ways in which women participated in and supported the silk industry in early modern Naples, how women remained actively engaged in the urban economy – sometimes through informal or marginal activities – playing a crucial role in the subsistence of families and the wider capacity of the city to adapt to periods of crisis.
-Francesca Ferrando, Università di Verona, francescaferrando88@hotmail.it
Margins of the Port: Women’s Work Between Law and Illegality in Genoa and Venice in the Late Eighteenth Century.
This contribution aims to analyze how, in the early modern era, the port area represented a place rich in economic potential for women of lower social classes. It served as a venue for experimenting with and implementing various survival strategies that navigated the boundary between legal and illegal activities. By focusing on the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, this study highlights how women adapted to urban economies in transition during a period marked by political and social upheaval. Through the comparative analysis of two major port cities—Genoa and Venice—we can observe how the continuous flow of men and goods created job opportunities for many women.
Women managed inns, taverns, and lodging activities, and engaged in the sale of necessities, whose origins were not always legal. The exchange of goods with foreign sailors is often intertwined with the informal and unregulated practice of prostitution, posing significant risks of abuse and personal safety. Additionally, the port area offered lucrative opportunities in the smuggling of foodstuffs and tobacco.
By studying criminal records produced by the magistrates overseeing the circulation of these goods, we can uncover illegal supply and sale networks involving bread, wine, and liquors. Many women worked as couriers, transporting smuggled goods within the city walls and filtering these goods from the port to the city center. Some particularly enterprising women engaged in the retail sale of smuggled goods, utilizing raw materials supplied by other women.
These activities blurred the lines between work and marginality, resilience and repression. Through the examination of criminal and police records, this paper will reveal how port areas functioned as gendered spaces where women sought new earning possibilities in the shadow of city institutions. By comparing Genoa and Venice, it aims to shed light on how women contributed to the functioning of urban port cities economies, particularly in lodging and services.
-Emma Pietroletti, Università di Roma Tre, emma.pietroletti@uniroma3.it
Women and work in the female conservatories: the case of the Conservatorio delle Pericolanti in Rome.
This paper intends to reflect on the foundation, during the pontificate of Pius VI in 1792, of the Conservatorio delle pericolanti in Rome. In the institute, erected with the aim of housing orphan girls “exposed to danger”, was set up a silk factory, which was the main activity carried out by the pupils. Thanks also to the high technological level of its machinery, it became one of the main centres for silk processing in Rome. The reconstruction of the institute’s history was conducted through the study of unpublished documentation, now kept in the archives of the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, concerning both the work carried out by the orphans and the internal management coordinated by the superiors. Data contained in the silk registers and concerning the wages of the pupils, the quantity of silk processed calculated in pounds, the different tasks within the factory and the names of the pious customers help defining a picture that allows us to grasp the economic importance of the conservatory in the urban context of Rome. Other sources, such as the letters exchanged between the superiors and the deputies of the institution, allow us to reflect not only on the working autonomy achieved by the Conservatory’s female students but also on their awareness of their own work: instances, alliances and resistances, showing a compact female community that knows how to strategically use its position to obtain collective or personal advantages. This institute is therefore a significant case study for at least two reasons: because it contributes to filling a historiographical gap concerning silk processing in a city like Rome, providing precise data on the processing of this fibre, and because it restores relevance to the dimension of work within places such as the women’s conservatories.
Widening the perspective and considering the use that the alumnae made of the institution, and not only the use that the institution made of the alumnae, is probably key to reading and rereading a place such as the Conservatorio delle pericolanti in Rome.
-Francesca Palumbo, Università di Perugia, Francesca.palumbo97@hotmail.com
Labor, Discipline, and Dowry: Female Work as a Tool of Social Reintegration in Roman Conservatories (18th–Early 19th Century).
This paper explores the central role of female labor within two Roman charitable institutions, Conservatorio di San Pasquale Bajlon and Conservatorio della Divina Provvidenza, from the 18th century to the early 19th century. These conservatories combined religious instruction, social discipline, and vocational training, aiming to reintegrate residents into society primarily through marriage or monastic life.
Drawing on archival sources, such as payment registers, internal regulations, and petitions submitted by the residents, this study examines how labor within these institutions functioned as both an educational tool and a means of limited economic agency. One key finding of this study concerns the ways in which the vocational skills acquired by the girls shaped their post-institutional futures. Archival records, particularly marriage petitions, reveal that many of the girls married local craftsmen such as shoemakers, tailors, hatters, or weavers. These men explicitly sought wives who could contribute to their trade, and the conservatory-trained girls, with their well-developed skills, were highly valued in this context. Thus, the labor performed within the institutions directly enhanced the girls’ marriage prospects and opened up opportunities for participation in artisan economies.
The paper also sheds light on the agency of these institutionalized women, who did not passively accept their condition. Notably, residents of San Pasquale submitted multiple petitions to ecclesiastical and civil authorities requesting commercial protections, including bans on Neapolitan silk imports and exclusive supply contracts with the military. Such actions reveal a sophisticated understanding of market dynamics and demonstrate the residents’ proactive role in improving both institutional revenue and their own dowry outcomes.
Ultimately, this study argues that labor in Roman conservatories functioned not merely as a disciplinary mechanism, but as a complex and ambivalent space of opportunity. Through work, the girls could accumulate dowries, acquire valuable skills, and negotiate better social and economic futures. Far from being passive subjects of charitable control, these young women actively shaped their reintegration trajectories, using labor as both a means of survival and a form of social ambition.
-Angela Carbone, Università di Bari Aldo Moro, angela.carbone@uniba.it
The textile manufacturing of the Real Monte della Pietà female orphanage in Barletta: training, work organisation and economic activity (18th-19th centuries).
From the end of the 18th century, the ancient 17th-century conservatory of the Real Monte della Pietà in Barletta underwent a period of substantial change as part of the new welfare, cultural, ideological and economic policies of the entire Kingdom of Naples. Following the transfer of the conservatory to the former Jesuit college, and in line with the thinking of the most influential Neapolitan Enlightenment figures, Francesco Paolo de Leon, one of the administrators of the institute, introduced a manufacturing plant in 1791 that was to become one of the most important textile “companies” in 19th-century Apulia, specialising in the production of olona cloth (used to make boat sails). Based on sources preserved in the institution’s historical archive, this paper aims to reconstruct the work training of the orphaned girls, the organisation of activities, the girls’ remuneration, which was also intended to build up a dowry for when they left the institution, and the economic activity of the factories in the context of the urban reality of the time. In fact, from the outset, the orphans employed in the factories were not sufficient to meet the ever-increasing external demand. The director therefore decided to assign the spinning phase to women working from home, with remuneration equal to that paid to the orphans of the institution. For many young girls, this initiative represented an opportunity to help the economies of their families and the entire town, overcoming moments of crisis and stagnation. The reconstruction of this case study can contribute to a rethinking of the role of women in the economic and social context of Apulia between the 18th and 19th centuries, overcoming overly rigid stereotypes and traditional historiographical paradigms.
-Isa Maria Moreira Liz- University of Evora, isamariamliz@gmail.com
Women’s Work in the Urban Economy of Evora, 1750-91:A Southern European Case
This paper explores women’s work and their contribution to the family economy in Evora, a city in southern Portugal, during the second half of the eighteenth century (1750–91). Although the panel focuses on Italian cities, I propose Evora as a complementary case from Southern Europe that addresses many of the same historical questions. My research engages directly with the panel’s broader aims—reconstructing the economic roles of women in early modern urban settings, examining how they sustained household economies. It asks: How did women’s labour shape urban family economies in the Portuguese city of Evora during the second half of the eighteenth century, and how did marital status affect their economic roles? This paper is part of my ongoing PhD thesis and is grounded in concepts from Global Labour History and Feminist Economics. Through a prosopographic and statistical analysis of over 19,000 individuals listed in tax and legal records between 1750 and 1791, this paper investigates the occupational presence and income patterns of women across economic sectors. It traces the labour of women across all marital and legal statuses, with particular attention to how marriage shaped women’s access to paid occupations. Though women often appear in sources through the identities of their husbands or household heads, cases of women’s economic activities reveal a complex picture of agency and participation in urban and rural life. Women in Evora worked in agriculture, textile production, domestic service, and food provision. Many were economically active alongside or independently from their spouses, suggesting that the family economy functioned through cooperative or parallel labour structures. While the dowry system and legal property rights under the Philippine Ordinances shaped women’s financial autonomy, work was not merely a substitute for the dowry, and it likely coexisted with other strategies of economic accumulation. The data draws on a combination of labour taxonomies (HISCO, GCHLR, and PST) and includes quantitative methods such as Lorenz curves and the Gini coefficient to measure income and property inequality. This allows me to position Evora in comparative perspective and to question generalised models of marginalisation or economic retreat of women in preindustrial economies.
