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Renaissance

Wanxin Du

Email: Wanxin.Du@warwick.ac.uk

I am a current PhD candidate at the Centre for the Study of the Renaissance at the University of Warwick (supervisor: Dr Jonathan DaviesLink opens in a new window). I am interested in economic, social, political, legal and administrative history of early modern Italy, especially that of the grand duchy of Tuscany between the 16th and 17th centuries.

My PhD project "Violence, Justice, and State Formation in Early Modern Siena, 1590-1650', examines violent criminality and the administration of criminal justice in the state of Siena, known as the Stato nuovo of the grand duchy of Tuscany, between the late sixteenth and the first half of the seventeenth centuries. Situated within the broader context of the seventeenth-century crisis in Italy, this project investigates shifting rates and patterns of violent crime—including homicide, brawls, insults, and sexual violence. Drawing on trial records, petitions, statutory law, peace agreements, and administrative correspondence, it also examines both judicial and extrajudicial modes of conflict resolution, with the aim of reconstructing the complex jurisdictional networks that linked the grand duke, the governor, the captain of justice, and local magistrates in the day-to-day administration of criminal justice. This research seeks to contribute to ongoing historiographical debates on levels of violence, the socio-economic and cultural roots of criminality, and the character of early modern justice and state formation.

 

Research Interests

  • Renaissance and early modern Italy
  • History of Florence, Siena, and Tuscany
  • Violence, crime, justice, and conflict resolution in early modern Europe

Qualifications

  • Ph.D. in Renaissance Studies, University of Warwick, UK, 2022-present
  • M.A. in World History, Fudan University, China, 2019-2022
  • B.A. in World History, Tianjin Normal University, China, 2015-2019

Academic Visiting Experiences

  • Visiting student, Department of History and Civilisation, European University Institute, Jan-Mar 2025
  • Eva Schler predoctoral fellow, Medici Archive Project, Jan -Apr 2024

Confernces and Talks

  • “Disputes and Negotiation in Sienese Criminal Appeals during the First Half of the Seventeenth Century”, Renaissance Society of America 71st Annual Meeting, Boston, 20-22 March 2025

  • “Arms Control Legislation in Grand-ducal Tuscany from the late 16th to the late 17th century”, Methods in Early Modern History Working Group, European University Institute, 4 March 2025

  • "Archival Research on Violent Crimes and Criminal Justice in Grand Ducal Siena, 1590-1650", Samuel H. Kress & Eva Schler 2024 Fellows Research Report, Medici Archive Project, 22 May 2024