ABSTRACT
In his famous work Dei delitti e delle pene (1764), Cesare Beccaria criticizes the monarchic character of republics in which only the heads of family were part of the body politic.1 Though Beccaria attacks the exclusion of “all” other citizens from political representation in republican urban governments, he actually meant to condemn only the exclusion of sons under patria potestas-not considering the representation of women and men outside the elites. Almost two and half centuries after the publication of Beccaria’s essay, it is generally agreed that in late medieval cities, the majority of inhabitants had no right to participate in city governance, but just how much access to public space was granted to women as well as lowerclass men, minors, slaves, Jews, and foreigners is still under debate.2
