Gender and pedocriminality in Bologna at the end of the Middle Ages

Lecture by Didier Lett, Université de Paris (ex Diderot), France

  • Date: 01 MARCH 2022  from 17:30 to 19:00

  • Event location: Sala Rossa, Palazzo Marchesini, Via Marsala, 26 - Bologna - In presence and online event

  • Type: Lectures

This is a hotly debated topic as he questions the past (the last two medieval centuries) from a gender perspective to better understand the phenomena of pedophilia and intrafamilial incest. Based on the very rich documentation of the Archivio di Stato of Bologna, in particular the registers of criminal justice, between 1343 and 1474, he will study more than one hundred and thirty cases of pedophilic rape. He will show that there are profound differences between the rape of boys and the rape of girls in the legal staging of the actors (defendants and victims), the notarial writing of the sexual assault, the legal lexicon used to qualify the act and the aggressor, and the sentences issued. He will draw up a sociology of the victims and then of the accused, focusing on the "sodomites", a category of paedocriminals that was becoming more and more established at the end of the Middle Ages. It will then focus on the act itself, integrating the extreme violence that takes place before the rape and the heavy consequences that ensue for the victim, his or her relatives, the community, morality, and even for the whole of Christianity. Finally, it will study the punishments inflicted on culprits, from the difficult denunciation of the criminal to the pronouncement and application of the sentence. By proposing an overall reflection on crimes, gender and punishments, Didier Lett deal with a subject that has never been treated before by medievalists: pedophile crime.

Link to ZOOM: Click here to access

If you prefer to attend this lecture in presence, you should write to segreteria.isa@unibo.it within March 1st, 12 p.m. and book your place. The places will be assigned on “first come first served” basis.

In order to attend lectures in presence you must have a COVID-19 Green Pass and show it on the premises.
In-presence attendance is allowed for the academic community only.

The visit of Didier Lett is organized in collaboration with Tiziana Lazzari from the Department of History and Cultures.