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Punire la violenza femminile nel basso medioevo. Il caso toscano in prospettiva europea

2025, La dignità del male. La violenza delle donne fra passato e presente (a cura di A. Carrino), pp. 147-166

Abstract

Criminology and historiography have pointed out that Western societies punish violent women less severely than men. The reasons for this phenomenon are still debated. This paper aims to examine the ways in which violence perpetrated by women in Tuscany in the 13th-14th centuries was punished, focusing on injury as a typical example of sentencing disparity cited in the literature. The analysis of criminal justice theory and practice reveals that gender-related mitigating factors were considered marginal and used occasionally.