Laughter and violence in the Italian renaissance : the physical and emotional abuse of the beffa

This thesis explores the relationship between laughter and violence in sixteenth-century Italy, with a particular focus on the beffa, a cruel joke or prank intended to inflict harm and humiliation. Far from being mere jest, the beffa carried aggressive undertones and served violent purposes, including revenge and defamation. It was a source of amusement for contemporaries, as well as being physically and emotionally abusive. By examining both literary representations (plays, novelle, poems etc.) and everyday occurrences documented in judicial archives and chronicles, this study investigates the role of violent ridicule in this culture. It addresses a gap in existing scholarship by taking Venice and Bologna as case studies, as these cities have been largely overlooked in previous research on the beffa, which has concentrated mostly on Renaissance Florence. It also adds to existing research on interpersonal violence in Renaissance Italy, which has primarily focused on overt physical acts like homicide. This study instead broadens the understanding of violence to include psychological and social dimensions. By analysing the beffa, it reveals a pervasive culture of aggression embedded in humour, mockery and scorn. This, in turn, contributes to the growing scholarly interest in non-physical forms of violence and the history of emotions, arguing that malice masked as humour or entertainment played a crucial role in the social interactions and power dynamics of sixteenth-century Venice and Bologna.