Utilizing the records of several Venetian courts that dealt with sex crimes, Ruggiero traces the evolution of both licit and illicit sexuality during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Through this examination of illicit sexuality, Ruggiero sheds light on the institutions, languages, social life, and values not only of this shadow-culture, but also of Venetian society and, ultimately, the Renaissance itself.
Oxford, UK; New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. 240p.