Jewish and Christian Marriages. Rituals, Rights, Interrelations (15th-17th Centuries, Papal States)

Areas: Early Modern History, Jewish History, Gender History and History of Sexuality 

Strategic emerging topic: HUMAN WELLBEING 

Cluster: Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society 

Sub Cluster: 

3. Better protection of historical sites and monuments, cultural landscapes, museums, archives, as well as languages, customs and traditions is achieved through innovative policies, methodologies and citizens’ participation. 

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. 

Duration of the project: 30/11/2023 – 30/11/2025 

Principal investigator: Fernanda Alfieri 

Partnership: University of Rome “La Sapienza” 

Budget of the University of Bologna: 143.499 EUR 

ERC sectors: SH - Social Sciences and Humanities 

1. SH6_13 Gender history, cultural history, history of collective identities and memories, history of religions 

2. SH6_8 Early modern history