An analysis of Renaissance Florentine convents and their influence on the city’s social, economic, and political history. The 15th century was a time of drama

Witchcraft. Arson. Going AWOL. Some nuns in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Italy strayed far from the paradigms of monastic life. Cloistered in convents, su

Winner of the Margaret W. Rossiter History of Women in Science Prize A new history uncovers the crucial role women played in the great transformations of medica

In 1554, a group of idealistic laywomen founded a home for homeless and orphaned adolescent girls in one of the worst neighborhoods in Florence. Of the 526 girl

The Santa Maria di Firenze, the venerable Benedictine abbey located in the heart of Florence, is the subject of this book. Leader's richly illustrated, interdis