Female Gossip and Political Engagement in Early Modern Italy

This paper will explore how women used the exchange of gossip to create patronage networks through letters with family members and friends in early modern Italy. Patrician women from merchant class families took advantage of the informal nature of family and friendship bonds to access these political networks for their families. Through their letters, patrician women negotiated the boundaries between informal and official political discourse. In the late sixteenth century, Florentine patrician women corresponded with women in the Medici household, including Bianca Cappello, the new wife of Francesco de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Florence. This correspondence formed the foundation of informal patronage networks used to create ties to the Medici who held political power after their return as the Dukes of Florence in the mid-sixteenth century. Patrician women specifically used gossip about new marriage alliances, family developments, and community events in order to discuss civic affairs. This exchange of news and information empowered women so that they could negotiate power and political status for their families.  At the same time, women from the Cappello family in Venice used their ties to Bianca Cappello to gain political favors and build bonds to the Medici in Florence. Though these women rarely held official political positions, the examples highlight the means by which women accessed the informal networks of family, friends, and patrons to transform personal relationships into political ties in order to engage in civic and political life in early modern Italian society.