Heirs, Kin, and Creditors in Renaissance Florence

• Preface: the ambivalence of inheritance; Introduction: inheritance and kinship; 1. Family and inheritance; 2. Florentine laws regulating inheritance and repudiation; 3. Repudiation and inheritance; 4. Profile of Florentine repudiation and inheritance; 5. Repudiations and household wealth; 6. Repudiation as an inheritance practice; 7. Repudiations in dispute.

“The author of three monographs and a collection of articles, Thomas Kuehn has established himself as a leading authority on the social history of Renaissance Florence. The focus of his research has been the tension between the Italian legal tradition, as interpreted by jurisconsults, and its implementation in practice as it affected individual lives and fortunes. In Heirs, Kin, and Creditors, Kuehn has analyzed Florentine inheritance practices, concentrating specifically on the widespread practice of inheritance repudiation (some 11,000 cases between 1365 and 1534). His exploration of these cases of repudiation testifies ot the obsessive interest of Florentines in the patrimonies they inherited, and often repudiated, and their involvement in the pervasive litigation over the disposition of inherited property. This solidly researched study is a significant contribution to the scholarship on inheritance practices in Renaissance Florence.” -Gene Brucker, emeritus, University of California, Berkeley