Three Forms of Jeopardy: Honor, Pain, and Truth-Telling in a Sixteenth- Century Italian Courtroom
Three members of a small band of Spanish thieves appear before the court of the governor of Rome. One, in hopes of clemency, betrays his companions and lays out the story of his long criminal career, both with them and with others. He is thus a useful informant, not only to the judge but also to the...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sixteenth Century Journal Publishers, Inc.
1998
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| In: |
The sixteenth century journal
Year: 1998, Volume: 29, Issue: 4, Pages: 975-998 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | Three members of a small band of Spanish thieves appear before the court of the governor of Rome. One, in hopes of clemency, betrays his companions and lays out the story of his long criminal career, both with them and with others. He is thus a useful informant, not only to the judge but also to the historian. This essay recounts the experience of the men in the gang and then explores the political economy of their profession. It then turns to the matter of tactics in the court itself and discerns in the three prisoners three distinct styles of bargaining: supplication, the claim to honor, and energetic empiricism. All three are bids for fede, that is, for credit. Though at first glance very different, these three tactics have in common a willingness to point out the speakers' vulnerability. Thus all three rhetorical strategies reflect the paucity of both real and symbolic capital available to underlings in early modern Italy. |
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| ISSN: | 2326-0726 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The sixteenth century journal
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/2543354 |