Renaissance Refugees

This Element challenges the stereotype of refugees as voiceless victims and shows that they negotiated with states.

Comparing four displaced communities in four early modern sanctuary cities, the Element shows that refugees were not only the victims of state violence but actively negotiated with governments, contributing to the creation of asylum and resettlement policies. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.Comparing four displaced communities in four early modern sanctuary cities (Rome, Venice, Livorno, and London), I show that refugees were not only the victims of state violence but actively negotiated with governments, contributing to the creation of asylum and resettlement policies. Reading the multilingual corpus of early modern refugee literature, I study the discursive practices that displaced people used to prevent persecution and secure rights for their communities. Thus, the history of displacement that emerges from this volume is not simply a “history from below,” solely centered on persecuted minorities but rather a larger 'refugee history,' that studies both institutions and communities, and recovers the norms and practices that arose in response to forced migration. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.