8 - Prudence, Personhood, and Law in Renaissance Italy

Summary

Mismanagement of property was always a threat to family survival and patrimonial continuity. Law provided a process by which an imprudent manager could be deemed unfit, even insane (furiosus), and placed under guardianship. While prudence was a quality too slippery to define, it was also generally expected, such that the "prudent man" was a standard of behavior. Here too, things were not simple and conflicts arose, as the sharing economy of the household was under strain by the demands or actions of someone others thought insane.