33 pages • 1 hour read
Gene A. BruckerGiovanni and Lusanna: Love and Marriage in Renaissance Florence
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1986A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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Gender Roles in Renaissance Florence
Brucker uses Giovanni and Lusanna’s relationship to explore the rigidity of gender roles in fifteenth-century Florence. During that time, men had much more freedom than women. As a wealthy man, Giovanni lives independently and establishes a career as a banker. He also frequently travels internationally for business. In contrast, Lusanna’s life is confined to the neighborhood where she grew up. She has no career and must depend on men to provide for her. This dependence is two-sided, though. If a Florentine woman “misbehaves” by stepping out of the rigid mold set for her, her male kin are blamed. Brucker notes “the ideal of feminine chastity […] was guarded as jealousy by male relatives as was their property” (77-78).
The social disparity between men and women in Florence is especially evident in the city’s perceptions of adulterers. Throughout the trial, Giovanni openly admits that he pursued and consummated an adulterous affair with Lusanna. At that time, it was normal for bachelors like Giovanni to remain unmarried until they became established in their careers in their mid-30s. Though the Catholic Church forbids sex outside of marriage, aristocratic bachelors frequently sought sex from lower-class women, and their adulterous affairs were quietly overlooked. Giovanni maintains his honorable reputation throughout the trial, but Lusanna is condemned by her community. One of her neighbors even nails horns to her home (signifying that the house’s inhabitants are sinful). Throughout the trial, many of Lusanna’s female neighbors testify that she has a reputation for being a “mala femina”—a dishonorable woman (89). That society perceives Giovanni and Lusanna so differently for committing the same act demonstrates how much more freedom men had to act as they pleased.
Power Struggles Between the Catholic Church and Aristocrats
The trial between Giovanni and Lusanna reveals a larger struggle between Florence’s two most powerful groups: the aristocratic class and the Catholic Church. In fifteenth-century Florence, the Catholic Church is the highest authority, making Archbishop Antoninus one of the most powerful figures in Florentine society. However, the power of the Catholic Church is often rivalled by the power of Florence’s aristocrats, especially the Medici family. The Medicis frequently use their vast wealth to influence societal affairs in their favor. Antoninus often finds himself in conflict with the Medicis and other aristocratic figures because he believes an archbishop should protect and serve the lower class. He even gains a reputation for being impervious to the Medici’s influence. In one instance, Cosimo de’ Medici, the family patriarch, tries to persuade Antoninus to rule a certain way in a court case. Antoninus refuses, informing Cosimo that his side of the case will only win if “[Cosimo] was in the right” (13). In another instance, Cosimo’s son implores Antoninus to reverse the excommunication of a friend. Antoninus refuses this request and writes, “You are powerful citizens, and the church supports the small and the weak” (114).
Because Giovanni and Lusanna’s trial involves a wealthy bachelor and the daughter of an artisan, the case inevitably becomes a conflict between Florence’s aristocrats and Antoninus. Brucker speculates that Lusanna was able to bring her allegations to trial because she received help from wealthy Florentines who were quarrelling with the Medicis. It is possible that these Florentines hoped Lusanna’s case would tarnish Cosimo’s reputation because Giovanni was a close friend of the Medici family. However, many aristocrats still testified in support of Giovanni. The aristocrats who supported Giovanni during the trial may have done so out of fear for their coveted positions in society (because, if Lusanna convinced the court that her marriage to Giovanni was valid, she would become part of Florence’s nobility, endangering the exclusivity of the aristocratic class).
Shortly after Antoninus’s investigation into Giovanni’s alleged bigamy begins, Giovanni uses his connections to persuade Florence’s civic court to investigate the allegations that Lusanna poisoned her first husband. The dual investigations lead to a conflict between Antoninus and the civic court’s podestà. Despite Giovanni’s attempts to secure a positive outcome in the bigamy case, Antoninus ultimately sides with Lusanna, ordering Giovanni to accept her as his lawful wife. It is likely that Giovanni then used his connections to influence the Pope, who eventually reverses Antoninus’s ruling and frees Giovanni from his commitment to Lusanna.
The Separation of Romantic Love and Marriage
In fifteenth-century Florence, romantic love was wholly separate from marriage. While the concept of romantic love existed, it was considered a “pastime of young Florentine males,” who sought sexual affairs before marriage (77). In contrast, marriage was an institution bound by money and the law. As such, marriage was viewed as a legal contract that improved a family’s prosperity. While adulterous affairs like Lusanna and Giovanni’s were common in Florence, Lusanna’s attempts to “transform an affective bond into a legal covenant” demonstrate what a revolutionary Lusanna was for her time (93). Brucker claims that Lusanna’s determination to marry Giovanni constitute “one woman’s struggle to gain a measure of personal independence” and improve her own social standing (93). In contrast, Giovanni ultimately chooses to marry a fellow aristocratic woman, believing that such a marriage would better serve his social interests than a marriage to Lusanna.
