Forbidden Friendships: Homosexuality and Male Culture in Renaissance Florence (Studies in the History of Sexuality)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.66 (964 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0195122925 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 384 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-10-04 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
"Interesting but repetitive" according to Joe the hermit. Overly scholarly look at a very interesting subject. Very well researched but highly repetitive. Thought if I had to read "will be discussed later" one more time my brain was going to implode. Still, the only study on a subject repeatedly alluded to in every work I've read regarding that time period.. Eye opening scholarship Michael Rocke's tome on male culture and sexuality in Renaissance Florence is a tremendous work that provides exceptional insight into male sexuality. After reading this, only the most obdurate student of gay life and history could fail to attain a more significant understanding of the present-day forces t. Kindle only review J. Fried This is a review of the Kindle version only, and so, it is a review of the implementation on Kindle and not a review of the content. Once i've completed reading the book i will add to this review.I have only two problems with the Kindle implementation of this book: the font face is fixed to a serif type, a
In 1432 The Office of the Night was created specifically to police sodomy in Florence. It marks a milestone in the 20-year rise of gay and lesbian studies."--Martin Duberman, The AdvocateThe men of Renaissance Florence were so renowned for sodomy that "Florenzer" in German meant "sodomite." In the late fifteenth century, as many as one in two Florentine men had come to the attention of the authorities for sodomy by the time they were thirty. Indeed, nearly all Florentine males probably had some kind of same-sex experience as a part of their "normal" sexual life. His richly detailed book paints a fascinating picture of Renaissance Florence and calls into question our modern conceptions of gender and sexual identity.. "This is a superb work of scholarship, impossible to overpraise. Rocke roots this sexual activity in the broader context of Renaissance Florence, with its social networks of families, juvenile gangs, neighbors, patronage, workshops, and confraternities, and its busy political life from the early years of the Republic through the period of Lorenzo de' Medici, Savonarola, and the beginning of Medici princely rule. Seventy years of denunciations, interrogations, and sentencings left an extraordinarily detailed record, which author Michael Rocke has used in his vivid de
Rocke presents a careful and nuanced appreciation of language and concepts of gender and sexual roles, but a solid conclusion would have further strengthened his case. The value of this highly important study rests on the book's lucid prose and its learned contribution to our understanding of human, or at least Western, sexuality.?Bennett D. Rocke, an independent scholar teaching in Florence, persuasively demonstrates that "homosexual behavior constituted a pervasive and integral part of male sexual experience, of the construction of male sexual identity, and forms of sociability." Using the city's rich judicial records, especially those of the Office of the Night, a magistracy set up to root out sodomy, Rocke shows that between 1432 and 1502 perhaps 17,000 men?or one in two in a total population of about 40,000?came to the attention of civil authorities for homosexual acts. From Library Journal From the fiery se
Michael Rocke is the Nicky Mariano Librarian of the Biblioteca Berenson at Villa I Tatti, the Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, in Florence.