Abstract
This project examines Jewish and Christian marriage in the early modern period from a comparative perspective and aims to change the viewpoint of a history of marriage that has traditionally focused primarily on Christianity and its various denominations. The Papal States, in particular Rome and Bologna, will be the main geographical and political area of observation. Thus, the interrelations between Jewish and Christian marriages can be studied, focusing on the presence of important communities for the history of Judaism in the peninsula, with a comparative view open to Europe. The research will bring together the history of Judaism and Christianity, religious and political history, social and intellectual history, legal history, and gender history. It will cover a broad spectrum of printed and manuscript sources: from Jewish and Christian religious and legal treatises to scriptural commentaries, from judicial to notarial sources and from scholarship to literature. Results and achievements: • The Research Unit of the University of Bologna worked on European learned, theological, and legal treatises of the early modern period, focusing on representations of Jewish marriage. • Moreover, in collaboration with HibouCoop, sample-based research was conducted on the social, legal, and economic history of Jewish and Christian marriage between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries in the following archives and collections: Imola, Diocesan Archive, Acta civilia; Ravenna, State Archive, Notarial Records; Ravenna, Historical Diocesan Archive, Criminal Court; Bologna, State Archive, Notarial Records and Tribunale del Torrone; Bologna, Archiepiscopal Historical Archive, Ricuperi attuariali, Tribunal, and Matrimonialia. • The Research Unit of the University of Bologna contributed to the development, population, and implementation of the IN-ITALJA Digital Atlas database (https://in-italja.org/), reaching over 20,000 indexed records (archival sources, primary and secondary materials, images), searchable by places, names, and dates, and enriched with curated narratives and thematic pathways. • Research results were presented at national and international seminars and conferences, including the Renaissance Society of America Annual Conferences in Chicago (2024) and Boston (2025). • Among the publications, the special issue of Annali dell’Istituto Storico Italo-Germanico in Trento / Jahrbuch des italienisch-deutschen historischen Instituts in Trient, 51 (2025), published online on 27 October 2025: https://www.rivisteweb.it/issn/0392-0011/issue/9880. The Special issue examines Jewish and Christian marriage in the early modern period from a comparative perspective and aims to change the viewpoint of a history of marriage that has traditionally focused primarily on Christianity and its various denominations. The research brings together the history of Judaism and Christianity, religious and political history, social and intellectual history, legal history, and gender history. It covers a broad spectrum of printed and manuscript sources: from Jewish and Christian religious and legal treatises to scriptural commentaries, from notarial sources to learned literature. • A podcast, Promesse. Ebrei, cristiani e matrimoni nell'Italia del Cinque e Seicento, was produced. The podcast examines Jewish and Christian marriages in early modern Italy (sixteenth and seventeenth centuries). Episode 1, written by the Research Unit of the University of Bologna, Gesti che legano. Gentile a Imola, Ovadia e Viola tra Creta e Rimini, explores how gestures and promises could create binding marriages in sixteenth-century Italy. It shows how marriage functioned simultaneously as contract, public ritual, and legal dispute across Jewish and Christian contexts. The podcast was published on Spreaker: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/promesse--6893224 and Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5fdwyXNGuPbioq1XtJeIKw • As part of its Third Mission activities, the project contributed to the public theatrical performance Toccar con mano. Scene da matrimoni ebraici e cristiani nel Cinquecento, held on 19 February 2026 at the Rizzoli Institute and the Church of San Michele in Bosco (Bologna). The performance was produced by Archivio Zeta (https://www.archiviozeta.eu/cronologia/toccar-con-mano/).
Dettagli del progetto
Responsabile scientifico: Fernanda Alfieri
Strutture Unibo coinvolte:
Dipartimento di Storia Culture Civiltà
Coordinatore:
ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - Università di Bologna(Italy)
Contributo totale di progetto: Euro (EUR) 257.670,00
Contributo totale Unibo: Euro (EUR) 143.499,00
Durata del progetto in mesi: 24
Data di inizio
30/11/2023
Data di fine:
28/02/2026
