Carlo Ginzburg has just passed away. There is little I can add in memory of a scholar of his stature. I'll recall only what he said during a fortunate conversation at the Betty Behrens Seminar in Cambridge: “Read everything. Your research path will find its way". And I live by that advice.
Roman poses an interesting question here: "I don’t quite understand the rationale for these acts of controlled violence [by Mongol rulers]... why destroy the seized ‘property’ of their rivals? Why not make it their own?" I don't know the answer myself. Could it be related to nomadism? #medievalsky
Source: Archivio di stato di Genova, Notai antichi 720, Bartolomeo Risso, filza 6, nr. 187, dated 1453-01-08, in which the slaveholders and brothers Oberto and Meliano Riccio, named as heirs of the deceased Battista Cicala, sell an enslaved woman named Lucia.
Looking forward to this new history podcast by @adapalmer.bsky.social ! #earlymodern
RIP Carlo Ginzburg. His landmark works in #earlymodern microhistory and innovative historical methods have had a great influence on myself and many others.