Daily Life in Renaissance Italy

Discover what life was like for ordinary people living in Renaissance Italy. How was their society organized? What were their homes like? What dangers did they face? These and other questions are answered in detail to provide the reader with a unique view of the world of the Italian Renaissance. A multitude of settings and socioeconomic backgrounds are presented, from urban life to country life, from upper-class to peasant-class, to paint a full portrait of the different kinds of existence of people of this culture.

Recipes, profiles of actual individuals, and over 40 illustrations help bring the period to life. Learn what they ate, what their homes were like, how they spent their leisure time, what their work was like, and much more. Modern readers will be surprised to find fundamental similarities between our lives today and the lives of these people living over 500 years ago, as well as to discover that many of the perceptions they may have of this time period are inaccurate.

ELIZABETH S. COHEN is Associate Professor of History at York University in Ontario. She is co-author, with Thomas Cohen, of Words and Deeds in Renaissance Italy.

THOMAS V. COHEN is Associate Professor of History at York University in Ontario. He is co-author, with Elizabeth Cohen, of Words and Deeds in Renaissance Italy.