Vivere ai margini. Accattonaggio, frode e furto sulle strade di Genova in antico regime

Abstract

This essay examines the relationship between female marginality and micro-criminality in the society of Early modern age starting from the case study of the Republic of Genoa. Through the analysis of a sample of trials held by the Magistrate of the poor between the end of the seventeenth century and the first half of the following century it is possible to bring out the different activities undertaken by women on the streets of the capital. The stories of beggars originating in the Dominion, are therefore intertwined with those of women engaged in smuggling and counterfeiting bread policies issued by the institution. Prostitution, as a supplementary source of small profits derived from begging and employment in the textile sector, finally, shows the marked permeability of limes the limit between licit and illicit.