Traces and public history of slavery in Tuscany and Genoa

The study explores the presence and role of Slavic and Oriental female slaves in Genoa, Florence, and Livorno from the middle ages to the early modern period, drawing upon literary, documentary, and cultural sources. In Genoa, notarial documents from the 13th and 14th centuries frequently reference Slavic women, labeled as 'sclava,' signifying both an ethnic and servile condition. Chronicles and religious texts further depict these women as domestic servants or figures of moral transformation. Florence, while lacking explicit literary references to Slavic female slaves in the 14th century, reveals their presence through notarial and judicial documents, where they appear as property in wills, dowries, or household inventories. The Spedale degli Innocenti’s records indicate that between 1445 and 1485, 33.2% of new-borns taken in were children of slave women, highlighting their significant role in urban society. Livorno, a cosmopolitan hub, employed numerous Slavic women in Christian and Jewish households, though their presence is documented more in private and mercantile records than in literature. Similarly, Oriental female slaves originating from the Caucasus, Anatolia, the Balkans, and the Levant entered Italian cities through trade, piracy, or international trafficking. While legally designated as ancillae or servae, their identities were often erased upon conversion to Christianity, with common renaming practices. Their roles included domestic labor, childcare, and concubinage, and their status was frequently linked to issues of sexuality and social integration. Despite their widespread presence, Oriental slave women remain largely absent from literary and artistic representation, often appearing only as eroticized or exotic figures. Recent historiographical studies have sought to recover their stories, emphasizing their social, economic, and emotional impact. This research thus reconstructs the fragmented memory of female slavery in Italy, demonstrating its relevance to understanding historical dynamics of power, gender, and otherness in the Mediterranean world.