Speaker: Jennifer DeSilva, Woodsworth College, U of T, Wednesday Talk: February 4, 2026, 2pm-4pm, Faculty Club and Zoom – hybrid
February 4 @ 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Speaker: Jennifer DeSilva, Woodsworth College, U of T
Title: “Women’s Labour in Renaissance Florence’s Streets and Taverns”
Abstract: Early modern men writing in Florence depicted their taverns as wonderful and raucous places that were central to masculine sociability and a threat to female chastity. In contrast to the male-centric tavern, this presentation explores sixteenth-century Florentine taverns and the streets around them as places of work employing many women in a variety of roles, and especially women related to male tavernkeepers. Using guild, census, and judicial records we will explore the spaces that some female tavernkeepers, procuresses, and sex workers shared to reveal women’s work in a supposedly dangerous professional space.
Bio: Jennifer Mara DeSilva is an Associate Professor Teaching Stream at the University of Toronto, where she is also Vice Principal of Woodsworth College. She has published on the College of Cardinals, papal commemoration, nepotism, sex workers, and history on film. She is the author of The Office of Ceremonies and Advancement in Curial Rome, 1466–1528 (Brill, 2022). She also co-edits the Sixteenth Century Journal and the Essays and Studies book series at the Centre for Renaissance and Reformation Studies at the University of Toronto.
The link to register is https://forms.office.com/r/FeRXruSgDL
The deadline to register is the Monday before the event at noon. The Zoom link will be sent to registrants only.
If you have any questions, please contact the organizer, Linda Hutcheon at l.hutcheon@utoronto.ca.
