1 Ch. Roncière, de La, ‘Pauvres et pauvreté à Florence au XIVe siècle’, in Mollat, M. ed., Etudes sur l'histoire de la pauvreté (Moyen Age-XVI siècle), 2 vols. (Paris, 1974) 2 661–745Google Scholar; Trexler, R. C., ‘Charity and the defence of urban élites in the Italian communes’, in Jaher, F. C. ed., The rich, the wellborn and the powerful: Elites and upperclasses in history (Urbana, 1973) 64–109.Google Scholar

2 For an analysis of charitable bequests in wills of country dwellers see Roncière, La, ‘Pauvres et pauvreté’, 695–97Google Scholar; and for the urban wills see Bonanno, C., Bonanno, M., Pellegrini, L., ‘I legati “pro anima” ed il problema della salvezza nei testamenti fiorentini della seconda metà del Trecento’, Ricerche Storiche 15 (1985) 183–220, esp. 197–99.Google Scholar

3 Roncière, La, ‘Pauvres et pauvreté’, 735–40.Google Scholar See also from the same author: ‘La condition des salariés à Florence au XlVe siècle’, in Il tumulto dei Ciompi. Un momenta di storia fiorentina ed europea (Firenze, 1981) 13–40.Google Scholar

4 See, for example, Certaldo, Paolo da, Il libro di buoni costumi, Schiaffini, A. ed. (Firenze, 1945) 149, 162, 238.Google Scholar

5 For an example of this attitude, see Mazzei, Ser Lapo, Letters di un notaro ad un mercante del secolo XIV, Guasti, C. ed., 2 vols. (Firenze, 1880) 2 143.Google Scholar

6 On this problem see Herlihy, D. and Klapisch-Zuber, Ch., Les toscans et lews families. Une étude du catasto florentin de 1427 (Paris, 1978) 59, 161.Google Scholar

7 Declaration of monna Caterina, a former servant: Archivio di Stato di Firenze (A.S.F.), Catasto 36, fo 297.

8 On the Florentine fiscal system before the introduction of the catasto, Barbadoro, B., Le finanze della repubblica fiorentina. Imposta diretta e debito pubblico fino all' istituzione del Monte (Firenze, 1929)Google Scholar; Molho, A., Florentine public finances in the early Renaissance, 1400–1433 (Cambridge, Mass., 1971).Google Scholar

9 Even in the Catasto, citizens continued to appeal to the tax officials for sympathy and understanding (discrezione). This habit reflects attitudes engendered by the older system that relied on an approximate evaluation, and hence on the appearance or reputation of one's wealth, which citizens thus sought to minimise and even hide; see Klapisch-Zuber, Herlihy, Les toscans, 40–50Google Scholar; Kent, D. V., Kent, F. W., Neighbours and neighbourhood in renaissance Florence: The district of the Red Lion in the fifteenth century (New York, 1982) 28–9.Google Scholar

10 In this connection it is also worthy of note that for the illiterate, the mediating role of the person who wrote out the return, a relative, a friend, or a neighbour, could be important. They sometimes added personal comments which reinforced and confirmed the general picture whose details they had given; in so doing they demonstrated a friendly complicity and solidarity of which the following is an example: ‘I, Antonio di Baldo, testify to you that I do not believe that in this neighbourhood of Camaldoli there is greater poverty or misery than that of these people’ (Catasto 23, fo 212r).

11 La Roncière has analysed the characteristics of poverty as seen by the poor themselves and recorded in chronicles, judicial sources and in the pleas submitted to the Signoria: Roncière, La, ‘Pauvres et pauvreté’, 735–40.Google Scholar

12 Cf. Catasto 20, fo 912r.

13 See Molho, Florentine public finances.

14 Antonio di Francesco, acting on behalf of his mother Nanna, stated in his declaration that ‘a farm was left to the above-mentioned monna Nanna by her grandfather, who died 63 years ago; the said monna Nanna knew nothing about it until she was told four years ago and she has been unable, because of her impotenzia, either to gain possession of it or to bring it to court. If she were able to, she would like to claim [this property]. She includes it [in her declaration] in order not to lose her rights by not mentioning it' (Catasto 19, fo 214r).

15 Catasto 30, fo 97.

16 Catasto 15, fo 636r.

17 ‘The said 790 florins [the dowry] are being claimed in court and it is not possible to have them because of the forza [of the husband's heirs]', declared Lena, widow of lacopo de' Pecori (Catasto 31, fo 141r).

18 On the efforts of lawyers in defence of women's rights, see Kirshner, J., ‘Wives' claims against insolvent husbands in late medieval Italy’, in Kirshner, J. and Wemple, S. F. eds., Women of the medieval world (Oxford, 1985) 256–303.Google Scholar

19 Such was the case of Bernarda, widow of Paolo di lacopo who ‘was widowed fifteen years ago and has never been able to repossess her dowry of 50 florins, having litigated over and over again’ (Catasto 60, fo 437r).

20 An example of partial restitution of the dowry is in Catasto 37, fo 1053r.

21 Catasto 18, fo 1057r. Another example is that of a certain monna Lula who had ‘a house … where she lives with those household goods required for a poor widow’ (Catasto 21, fo 172r).

22 It may be noted that in a document which required an exact statement of the assets of taxpayers, one way for the poor to underline the precarious nature of their living conditions was to insist on the fact that they only owned a few household goods, or masserizie: a general term that included a limited amount of furniture (sometimes only a bed) and a few everyday objects which it was necessary on occasion to give up, sell or pawn in order to settle a debt.

23 Ch. Klapisch-Zuber, , ‘Le zane della sposa: La fiorentina e il suo corredo nel Rinascimento’, Memoria: Rivista di storia delle donne 11–12 (1986) 12–23, esp. 12.Google Scholar

24 Ibid., 16.

25 Ch. Klapisch-Zuber, , ‘Le complexe de Griselda: Dot et dons de mariage au Quattrocento’, Mélanges de l' Ecole française de Rome 94 (1982) 7–43, esp. 14–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

26 In his declaration, Francesco di Betto Busini did not conceal a certain animosity towards the widow of one of his relatives, to whom he had to return part of her dowry. She had left her husband's house ‘abandoning her own son’ and, according to Francesco's allegations, ‘robbed the house, that is: three bedspreads, sheets and many other things … and I cannot declare the value of what she has stolen because it is not yet clear’ (Catasto 34, fo 583r). See also Klapisch-Zuber, , ‘Le complexe de Griselda’, 20–1.Google Scholar

27 In a letter of March 1461, Lorenzo Strozzi, writing from Bruges, notified his mother Alessandra in Florence of the suspicions he had concerning his aunt by marriage, the recent widow of Iacopo Strozzi who had died in Bruges: ‘The woman is awaiting a reply from Niccolò in order to return to Florence with the children. She says she does not want to remarry, but I do not believe it. Iacopo has left her all his goods, belts and a collar worth 70 ducats. And I understand that she has taken many other small things; but before she leaves here, she must speak to me if she wants me to let her go, and perhaps I will make her give back all the goods she has taken from the house without my knowledge. Since it is my responsibility, I intend to do my duty and to see to it that our possessions do not leave our house.’ Strozzi, A. Macinghi, Lettere di una gentildonna fiorentina ai figliuoli esuli, Guasti, C. ed. (Firenze, 1877) 240.Google Scholar

28 In his ricordi, Paolo di Alessandro Sassetti reported the following dispositions of his brother Bernardo's will: ‘Next he left to monna Simona, his wife, her dowry and sopradota…, next he left to the said monna Simona, in addition to her dowry, 200 gold Florins as long as she does not remarry nor leave his house but lives and stays with me [Paolo]; and otherwise not. Next he left to the said monna Simona certain household goods for her use with the same conditions specified above’. Carte strozziane, II serie, 4, fo 67v.

29 Andrea di Bicci, who was thrown out of her former husband's house by her stepson, went to her brother's home, accompanied by her young son Bicci, in the following conditions:‘They did not bring anything, neither clothes nor household goods; Andrea [was] without a proper gown or cloak, only a poor, ugly, and worn-out dress; and likewise Bicci had nothing’. Bicci, Neri di, Le ricordanze (10 marzo 1453–24 aprile 1475), Santi, B. ed. (Pisa, 1976) 103.Google Scholar

30 Lisa, widow of Piero di Giovanni Busini, who had as yet recovered only a third of her dowry of 305 florins, declared: ‘And from this dowry I got 44 florins’ worth of household goods including a bed, and my clothes’ (Catasto 31, fo 143r).

31 ‘Also she says she must buy household goods such as a bed and linen, clothes and necessary items, because this year she has returned to [her own] house and finds herself without any household goods.’ Declaration of Bionda, widow of messer Antonio da Montecatini, Catasto 52, fo 340v.

32 Catasto 15, fo 459v.

33 Ch. Klapisch-Zuber, , ‘La mère crueller Maternité, veuvage et dot dans la Florence des XlVe-XVe siècles’, Annales, E.S.C. 38 (5) (1983) 1097–1109, esp. 1097.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

34 Paliano di Falco, who in his will granted to his two daughters the tornata and maintenance in case of widowhood, expresses perfectly the kinds of worries associated with such bequests: ‘Also he left to his daughters already born, as well as to those yet to be born, should they be widowed, the right to return (tornata) and live in the house of the heirs of the said testator, both in Florence and in the countryside and the food, dress and foot-wear which are appropriate for them; and this will take effect if they are not able to repossess their dowries. But, should they regain their dowries, he stipulated that the revenue from these dowries should revert to his heirs, leaving nevertheless, the above mentioned bequest unaltered’. (Carte strozziane, IV serie, 364, fo 118v).

35 Ch. Bec, , Il libro degli affari proprii di casa di Lapo di Giovanni Niccolini de' Sirigatti (Paris, 1969) 132.Google Scholar

36 Catasto 57, fos 220–1.

37 The will of Giovanni Niccolini, of 1376, which his son Lapo recopied in his ricordi envisaged not only the tornata but also the maintenance of his two daughters ‘in case of necessity’ (Bec, , Il libro degli affari proprii, 61–2). Lapo made no mention of any intention to endow his sister with the same right, which she apparently really needed.Google Scholar

38 According to his declaration, Francesco di Cambio Orlandi was reluctant to give up a rental income of 25 florins that he received for a house, in order to turn over the house to a widowed relative; he explained the matter as follows: ‘The said house is assigned, that is the tornata, to seven women if and when they should be widowed, that is the daughters and sisters of Salvestro Orlandi, and now one of the sisters of Salvestro Orlandi, whose name is monna Pippa, the widow of Francesco di Taddeo Bischeri, litigates over the said house with us, and asks for all the house for herself, and the use of all the [other] goods, that is her alimony’ Catasto, 36, fo 420r.

39 Cf. note 29.

40 In this connection see Bellomo, M., Ricerche sui rapporti patrimoniali tra coniugi: Contributo alla storia della famiglia medievale (12–13) (Milano, 1961)Google Scholar, in particular 187–241; for a different approach, Kirshner, ‘Wives’ claims’.

41 An example is that of Nanna, widow of Barduccio Canigiani, who declared: ‘At present, her widowed niece has returned to live with her; she was the wife of Giotto Peruzzi, and did not have anywhere else to go and has to repossess her dowry from the heirs of Giotto … until she gets back, it is necessary for the said monna Nanna to pay her expenses’ (Catasto 16, fo 419v).

42 Catasto 48, fo 748r.

43 Catasto 20, fo 826r.

44 Quivi vicino alla maggior chiesa, ebbe già una gentil donna vedova, chiamata monna Piccarda, uno suo podere con casa non troppo grande; e per ciò la più agiata donna del mondo non era, quivi la maggior parte dell' anno dimorava, Boccaccio, G., Decameron, Branca, V. ed. (Firenze, 1960), 2 vols., 2, 333 (VIII, 4).Google Scholar

45 ‘A farm…in which I live; in the countryside with the household goods for my use as little widows do [chome fanno le vedovette], because I have no house to rent in Florence’ (Catasto 18 (II), fo 1391r).

46 Mattea, widow of Geri Ravagnini who owned only a farm at Santa Margherita a Montici, declared: ‘This is all that I recovered from my dowry. I live in the above-mentioned half of a farm with my household goods and implements for my use’ (Catasto 18, fo 1138).

47 Antonia di Matteo di Stoldo lived with her family in a farm she owned at San Martino a Montughi because she was ‘unable to pay rent and the gabelle’ (Catasto 48, fo 287r).

48 Certaldo, Da, Il libro di buoni costumi, 91.Google Scholar

49 Lia, widow of Giovanni del Bello ‘lives in the parish of the district of San Martino Lobaco, is seventy-five years old, and is abandoned by everyone’ (Catasto 16, fo 188r).

50 ‘I live most of the time in the countryside because I have such a small income that I could not live in Florence; but when I go there [to Florence], I stay in the house of Filippo di Piero the tailor…who is my cousin’ (Declaration of Caterina, widow of Agnolo di Buoninsegna, Catasto 56, fo 680).

51 Some years ago R. Trexler published a document, dating from the beginning of the sixteenth century, from the archive of this hospital, which its officials probably used to calculate, on the basis of an individual's age, what advantage the institution would derive in entering into a contract for a life annuity: ‘Une table florentine d'espérance de vie’, Annales, E.S.C. 26 (1971) 137–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar (J. Dupaquier has shown that this life-expectancy table was copied from a document of the fourth century: ‘Sur une table prétenduement florentine d'ésperance de vie’, Annales, E.S.C. 28 (1973) 1066–70.)CrossRefGoogle Scholar

52 The following case is interesting because it concerns a widow who had taken advantage of the options available to apply both to an institution and to a private individual:‘The above mentioned monna Iacopa receives from the hospital of San Matteo…10 florins each year for as long as she lives, and these are from the 100 florins that monna Iacopa deposited with the said hospital. Also, the above mentioned monna Iacopa receives 16 florins each year for life from Giovanni di Cecco da Peretola, a grain merchant…from the 100 florins that she gave to the said Giovanni di Cecco, which after the death of monna Iacopa shall remain with the said Giovanni. The above-mentioned monna Iacopa has to live with this income and sometimes she has to accept help and she lives in poverty. She is recommended to you’ (Catasto 25, fo 39r).

53 ‘I am commessa in the hospital of Messer Lenzo Ridolfi for life…and in this hospital I live and do not pay rent’, Declaration of Nastagia widow of Giovanni di Lenzo, baker, Catasto 22, fo 535r. Included in the inventory of its possessions that Santa Maria Nuova submitted to the Catasto officials is a group of houses in the vicinity of the hospital, some of which were inhabited by commesse (Catasto 185 (II), fos 680r, 681r, 682r).

54 Nese, widow of Nofri da Perugia, ‘Has [the use of] a small house for as long as she lives…which she bought from [the hospital of] Santa Maria Nuova for twenty-two florins’ (Catasto 22, fo 525r).

55 In an article on the major hospital in Siena, Odile Redon has observed that with this type of contract the institution in effect substituted for the father or husband: ‘Autour de l'hôpital Santa Maria della Scala à Sienne au XIIIe siècle’, Ricerche storiche 15 (1) (1985) 18–34, esp. 25.Google Scholar

56 Here, for example, is what a landlord in the parish of San Lorenzo stated:‘I rent these houses to many people for 136 lire but I do not receive two thirds [of this sum] because of their poverty, and often they go away and leave the houses empty (Catasto 49, fo 119r).

57 An eighty-year-old widow who had withdrawn to one room of her house said: ‘The above-mentioned house is worth about 80 florins…I live from this rent, with my arms I spin a little carded wool, and also I am so old that I cannot manage’ (Catasto 22, fo 784).

58 If for the wealthy delays in returning the dowry postponed the point at which a second marriage could take place, in these cases, on the other hand, the need to assemble a new dowry by working was very often a pre-condition for remarriage. Domestic service would appear to be, for example, the only type of work which allowed a woman to save a few florins, while still ensuring a minimum subsistence: Betta, widow of Giovanni di Binello, who had spent several years as a servant, pleaded with the Catasto officials to show a little understanding in her case because, as she stated, ‘I have worked hard and earned these monies as a servant and a wet nurse only in order to get remarried. I beg you to take all this into consideration’ (Catasto 56, fo 574r).

59 ‘I look after a shop for others and I get eight danari for every lira's worth of goods I sell’, Agnesa, widow of Nanni, Catasto 52, fo 96r.

60 ‘I live by weaving and by taking care of women in childbirth’ (Catasto 15, fo 466r); an example of a widow who had worked as a servant and who at the time of her declaration was a spinner and occasionally a midwife: Catasto 21, fo 484r.

61 Caterina, widow of Piero del Forte, was a commessa of the church of San Felice in Piazza which guaranteed her a small annual pension; at the same time, she had to work and stated: ‘My trade is to weave woollen cloth and if I did not have this life pension I would not be able to live on my work’ (Catasto 19, fo 514r). For others, work was supplemented by renting out rooms (cf. note 57) or by the income received from small plots of land.

62 ‘I cannot manage because I am alone and I earn my living from day to day and I am not well’, Biagia, widow of Antonio di Niccolò, weaver, Catasto 23, fo 520r.

63 Ch. Klapisch-Zuber, , ‘Célibat et service féminins dans la Florence du XVe siècle’, Annales de démographie historique (1981) 289–301CrossRefGoogle Scholar; ‘Women servants in Florence during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries’, in Hanawalt, B. A. ed., Women and work in preindustrial Europe (Bloomington, 1986) 56–80.Google Scholar

64 The lawyer Francesco di Piero chose this last solution: ‘Monna Fiore, aged 77 years: I have paid her expenses from 1415 onwards because she is blind and sick, and I owed her her wages from 1400 because she was with me [as my servant] and my soul would suffer to throw her into a hospital’ (Catasto 15, fo 59v).

65 Referring to his mother-in-law, whose destitute state he emphasised, Guido di Bartolo stated: ‘She is sick and lives only on alms [e à solo una limosina] and has nothing else except for a few household goods that are not worth even fifty lire’ (Catasto 15, fo 776v). On this kind of regular assistance, see the remarks of Roncière, La on Orsanmichele, , ‘Pauvres et pauvreté’, 691.Google Scholar

66 ‘The said monna Filippa is at least sixty years old and is poor and has to earn her living by spining and were she to fall ill she would have to go to the hospital. She recommends herself to you for the love of God’ (Catasto 24, fo 1019r).

67 Bianchina lived with her children in a house which belonged to two brothers ‘and through their kindness and love I pay nothing for it’. The income from her job did not allow her to support her children and she added ‘if it were not for good friends, they [the children] would be in great need’ (Catasto 52, fo 359r).

68 Thus Felice, widow of Zanobi di Miniato, and her two children accepted the free hospitality of another widow in order to be able to rent her own house - the only assets she possessed - for 12 florins a year: ‘They went to the house of monna Piera…for the love of God because she has to live from her rent as she has no other income’ (Catasto 49, fo 246r).

69 ‘A little house…which we use as a stable and in which we keep many things from the above-mentioned inheritance; and a person we help [una nostra chriatura] lives upstairs without paying any rent’ (Catasto 37, fo 826r).