RAMBLING ON PROSTITUTES (SIC!)
I've suddenly taken a strange interest in prostitutes of the Italian Renaissance, especially those of Rome. We've all gushed over Venetian courtesan and their chic style, and accomplished upper class courtesans living a life in luxury. On the other end of the scale you got the common prostitutes rambling the streets, in tacky clothes. But there are more to this picture, no?
When living in Rome in 2009, I was fascinated to find out that the bridge I crossed daily to get to Trastevere was directly financed by prostitutes. Prostitution was taxed as all other incomes. It was not illegal to buy or sell. However, it should not be a visible activity. Prostitutes were confined to specific parts of the city, and there were limits to what kind of home they could rent, where they could rent it, and when they could leave their homes. In 16th century Rome they were locked in during night and specific holidays in a place called "Ortaccio"* Most Italian city states had similar limitations for prostitutes.
So prostitutes paid taxes and was accepted by the officials (as such). But it was still not an accepted living for any honest woman. There are of course exceptions, but again I'm thinking of the majority of these women, not the very few who climbed to the top and lived like royalties. These were above the law in many ways. But the majority of women who had this profession - what was their life like?
I'm reading two interesting articles on the subject; one being "The Topography of Prostitution in Renaissance Ferrara" by Diane Yvonne Ghirardo, the other being "The Florentine Onestà and the control of prostitution 1403-1680" by John Brackett. Both of them point out a (maybe obvious but) interesting thing: most women of this profession were foreign. Foreign, in the sense that they weren't native to the city state they worked in. They could be from other places in Italy, or also from neighbor countries. The former article above lists names like:
In Ferrara:
Giovanna da Venezia
Ursolina of Udine
Lucia of Bologna
Ambrosina from Como
Ursola, daughter of German Zeno
Margarita of Germany
Margarita of Slovenia
Margarita of Ljubljana
Angela of Germany
In Rome:
Antonia Fiorentina
Francesca Ferarese
Narda Napolitana
Lucrezia Greca
Camilla Senese
Signora Saltarella of Florence
(getting some interesting ideas for names here...)
So women left their country/city state to become prostitutes. This might have been to shelter their family for the shame, but it might also have been to having something "exotic" to offer the customers. Or it might be that laws were easier on foreigners offering such services than on local women. At least it was that for their eventual pimps. In Ferrara, the first article mentions, it was not allowed for native men to act as pimps or life off a prostitute's income, but it was allowed for foreigners.
One thing should be noted, though (something I've stressed previously): Europe in the second half of the 16th century was haunted by the religious fever. It was especially noticeable in Italy, the seat of the Catholic church and the Pope, and was a result of the counter reformation. Protestants had accused the Catholic faith of being perverted and unchristian, and the Catholic church worked on proving them wrong. But to do that, the "unchristian" behaviour of the people had to be corrected. It hit the profession of prostitution hard. Ironically, the opposite was the case in Venice, which was "out of reach" of the Vatican and the Inquisition, and dubious books, art and people found their way there. This might also be why the Venetian courtesans stands out as they do. Or to quote the "Encyclopedia of prostitution and sex":
If Rome gave birth to the courtesan, Venice raised her to the status of a civic treasure.
What fascinates me about the Roman prostitutes is that they were so visible for such a long time. They financed various constructions in Rome, and they balanced the uneven distribution of men/women in the Holy Papal State. They were connected with priests and cardinals, sometimes with the pope himself (well, the elevated ones). And BAM! - they were unwanted. In 1567 pope Pius V suggested that adultery would mean capital punishment for both men and women. It was never realized. But in 1569 the pope ordered all the prostitutes of the city to be confined within the Ortaccio. They were not allowed to leave the area at night, nor during holidays as Lent and Easter.
On the other hand, the church wasn't wholly without heart on the women. Most city states had convents serving as retirement homes for prostitutes. Rome were one of the first to create such retirement homes (1520), and other cities followed shortly (Venice in the 1520s, Milan in the 1530s, Ferrara in 1537). The idea might have been to reform them or save their souls, and they had to prove themselves worthy in different ways to be accepted. Sometimes the women were considered "purged" after having lived there for a considerable time, and was allowed to marry.
In Venice gender dressing has been considered an enticing component. In Rome it seems to have been done more of necessity, at least the examples known to us. The Roman prostitute Madalena Prosperi was charged of wearing men's clothes in public; her defense was that she was only wearing her lover's clothes, and didn't cross the threshold into the street. Nothing is told of the result of this trial. But another prostitute, the well-loved Imperia in Rome, was publicly whipped because she went outside the Ortaccio at night - and not only that, she did so dressed as a man and armed. She offered to pay a fine of 200 scudi instead, but it was turned down.
A general consensus in the online costume community is that the sign of a prostitute was wearing a yellow veil. But the picture is more complex. For example, in mid-16th century Rome the large golden veil was a fashion item for noble ladies. Having prostitutes wear a yellow veil would likely be too insulting to the noble ladies. In Ferrara in 1471, on the other hand, wearing a yellow mantello (cloak) was a sure sign of the lady's profession. In Venice in 1407 prostitutes were ordered to wear a yellow scarf; in Milan in 1412 a white cloak; in Cologne in 1423 a double red-and-white clasp; in Bologna in 1456 a green scarf; in Milan in 1498 a black cloak; in Seville in 1502 green-and-yellow sleeves.
I'm guessing the items they were ordered to wear was to make them a contrast to the noble ladies. Especially striking colour combinations and unusual patterns made it easier to separate honest from dishonest women. This is underlined in both Florence and Venice, where foreign visitors often did mistake elevated prostitutes/courtesans for noble ladies. Laws aimed to prevent the former to wear the same fineries as the latter. But even better was to make the dishonest women wear something striking noble ladies would not wear. A yellow item would sometimes do the trick, being associated with outcasts like Jews**, but there isn't a generic dress or colour code for Italian prostitutes in the 15th and 16th century.
That's all for now...
*Ortaccio means something like "bad garden" or "garden of evil", either reflecting the red light business, or the fact that it was a former non-Christian graveyard there. It's near the place where the Mausoleo di Augusto is today. A link, if anyone is really curious:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=piazza+montedoro+rome&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Piazza+di+Monte+d'Oro,+00186+Roma,+Lazio,+Italy&ll=41.905631,12.475405&spn=0.008672,0.015664&t=h&z=16
**Prostitutes of the Roman Empire might also have been connected with the colour yellow. They were not allowed to wear the ceremonious stola instita; instead they were regulated to wear a short tunic and toga in earth colours or yellow (the sources are a bit unclear).