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‘...prima ci fu la cagione de la mala provedenza de’ Fiorentini...’ Disaster and ‘Life World’—Reactions in the Commune of Florence to the Flood of November 1333

Gerrit Jasper Schenk is a Historisches Institut, University of Stuttgart. E-mail: gerrit.schenk{at}po.hi.uni-stuttgart.de

Early in November 1333 flood waters gushed into the city of Florence. Giovanni Villani, eyewitness and chronicler of this disaster, wrote extensively on contemporary discourses about its origins. In recent research Villani's explanatory models have been viewed as characteristic of the oscillatory perceptions of his contemporaries, alternating between factors of natural history and notions of theological guilt. However, even Villani cited the lack of preparedness on the part of the inhabitants of Florence as the foremost cause of this particular tragedy that overtook his city. This explanation, which constitutes one more contemporary reaction to the disaster, has been largely overlooked by research on the subject of the 1333 floods. The records of the city administration open up fresh insights into hitherto little known reactions and measures resorted to by the Commune of Florence. This allows us a glimpse into the ‘life-world’ of contemporaries. The emerging account of pragmatic responses and concrete measures is useful in giving us access to collective attitudes which can legitimately take their place alongside of earlier, well-known interpretive models seeking to uncover ‘theories of practice’ in dealing with natural disasters.

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