Based on archival research and individual stories, this book demonstrates how gender and class shaped individual orphanages in each city's network, and how politics, charity, and economics intertwined in the development of the early modern state.

Florence's orphanages were larger and harsher, and made little attempt to reintegrate children into society. Based on extensive archival research and individual stories, "Abandoned Children of the Italian Renaissance" demonstrates how gender and class shaped individual orphanages in each city's network, and how politics, charity, and economics intertwined in the development of the early modern state.