Conflicting Masculinities: Gender and Politics in Fifteenth-Century Venice

冲突的男性气概：十五世纪威尼斯的性别与政治

• 批准号: 2587286
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Queen Mary University of London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2587286
• 关键词: Conflicting; Masculinities; Gender; Politics; Fifteenth

The conflict between the private and public persons of the doge forms the crux of the proposed PhD thesis. This conflict formed a central - but as yet unstudied - part of the centuries-long struggle between communal republicanism and the monarchical tendencies which characterised the Venetian polity that belied its claims to be "the most Serene Republic". Consequently, the dissertation provides an original contribution to the history of politics in Venice, and to the history of premodern political life more broadly, by viewing the doge through the prism of gender. Utilising an interdisciplinary approach, marrying gender theory and more traditional historical approaches with constitutional history and political thought, my work will assess how Venice's fifteenth-century doges, through public civic rituals and their own personal expressions of identity, became increasingly embroiled in a battle of alternate visions of the ideal Renaissance man. Throughout the life of the Venetian republic, on every Ascension Day the Venetian head-of-state, the doge, performed the ritual of the 'Marriage to the Sea'. During this ritual, the doge cast a ring into the sea and proclaimed it his spouse, confirming Venice's dominion over the Adriatic. In doing so, the doge embodied elite masculinity: as the 'father' of Venice and the spouse of the sea he reflected the central pillars of Venetian masculinity - the roles of father and husband. The person of the Doge thus combined 'two bodies': the private and public, the mortal man and enduring office imposed by the Venetian government. During the fifteenth century, and the Renaissance more broadly, there was a revival of classical republican language. The classical concept of 'virtus' - or the medieval Italian 'virtu' - was revived as the epitome of masculinity. In the classical period, 'virtus' was perceived as embodying largely martial characteristics. 'Virtu', however, was a highly contested term. In merchant-republican cities, such as Venice, 'virtu' became a vision of the merchant or banking elite. To others, such as Nicolo Machiavelli in his seminal sixteenth-century work 'Il Principe', 'virtu' was a certain ruthlessness, one of pride, bravery, and military skill. With 'virtu' came an inherent anxiety of effeminacy, especially in relation to the luxuries created by wealth. Consequently, I believe the conflict between the communal-republicanism of the Venetian government and the doge was centred on competing visions of this masculine 'virtu'; whereas the Venetian political elite expected the doge to be depicted as first among equals, sharing the characteristic 'virtu' of the merchant elite, many of the doges instead idealised themselves as having attained the 'virtus' of the classical republics.

总督的私人人格与公众人格之间的冲突构成了拟写博士论文的关键。这场冲突形成了社区共和主义和君主政体之间长达数世纪的斗争的核心，但尚未被研究，君主政体是威尼斯政体的特征，它声称自己是“最宁静的共和国”。因此，本文通过性别的棱镜来观察总督，为威尼斯的政治史和更广泛的前现代政治生活史提供了原创性的贡献。利用跨学科的方法，将性别理论和更传统的历史方法与宪法历史和政治思想结合起来，我的工作将评估威尼斯15世纪的狗是如何通过公共公民仪式和他们自己的个人身份表达，越来越多地卷入理想文艺复兴时期男人的替代愿景的战斗中。在威尼斯共和国的一生中，在每个耶稣升天日，威尼斯的国家元首，总督，都会举行“与海结婚”的仪式。在这个仪式上，总督向海里扔了一枚戒指，宣布它为他的配偶，从而确认了威尼斯对亚得里亚海的统治。在这样做的过程中，总督体现了精英的男子气概：作为威尼斯的“父亲”和大海的配偶，他反映了威尼斯男子气概的中心支柱——父亲和丈夫的角色。总督这个人就这样结合了“两种身体”：私人的和公共的，凡人的和威尼斯政府强加给他的持久的职务。在15世纪和更广泛的文艺复兴时期，古典共和主义语言复兴。“virtus”的古典概念——或者中世纪意大利语中的“virtu”——作为男子气概的象征而复活。在古典时期，“美德”被认为主要体现了军事特征。然而，“Virtu”是一个备受争议的词。在威尼斯等崇尚商业共和的城市，“美德”成为商人或银行精英的愿景。对其他人来说，比如尼科洛·马基雅维利在他16世纪的开创性著作《Principe》中，“virtu”是一种无情，一种骄傲、勇敢和军事技能。伴随“virtu”而来的是对女性气质的内在焦虑，尤其是与财富创造的奢侈品有关。因此，我认为威尼斯政府的公共共和主义和总督之间的冲突集中在对这种男性“美德”的不同看法上；威尼斯的政治精英期望总督被描绘成平等的第一，分享商人精英的特征“美德”，许多总督反而理想化地认为自己已经获得了古典共和国的“美德”。