The social network of Alessandra Strozzi
The role of a Florentine merchant's widow
Historical context
Florence was one of the biggest cities of the medieval Mediterranean. In the 15th century, it had between 40,000 and 55,000 inhabitants. The city was also one of the wealthiest Italian city-states, with much of the money being made in industry, trade and banking. The wealth was very unevenly distributed however, and about 1/3 of the entire city was very poor, while around 10 elitist families had most of the money. Besides being rich, it was also very important to have a high status as a family and to have some political influence- if one wanted to mean something in Florence's social circles or in the trading business. Florence was in essence a republic. In 1434 however, Cosimo de' Medici (the head of a wealthy family of elites) ascended to power. He did so by taking control over the election process and by exiling everyone who had become- or might become in the future- a political threat to his family. Exile was a harsh punishment in those days. Only if an exile was part of a well-connected family, he could survive outside of his hometown: the Medicis were then too afraid of the consequences to take away the exile's resources. If an exiled family was well connected and could retain their assets, they were not only able to survive outside of Florence, but they were also able to rebuilt their trading empire. Some even greatly benefitted in their trading business from being exiled, as it forced them to make connections outside of their hometown. The Strozzis were one of these benefitting merchant families. |
Alessandra Strozzi
Alessandra Macinghi Strozzi (1408 - 1471) was born and raised in medieval Florence. Her family was wealthy enough for her to marry into the Strozzi merchant family. As the Strozzis were political opponents to the Medicis however, they were exiled in 1434. Alessandra and her eight children joined her husband in exile voluntarily. Sadly, both her husband and three of their children died from the plague during exile. Alessandra returned to Florence, sending her three remaining sons to live and work for her late husband's exiled cousins, while keeping her two daughters close.
Between 1447 and 1470, Alessandra wrote many letters to her sons Filippo, Matteo and Lorenzo who lived abroad in Naples and Bruges respectively. All kinds of information was included in them: she described parts of her search for suitable son-in-laws, but she also discussed topics like money matters and product prices. This economic aspect of her letters is especially interesting. Apparently, Alessandra used her personal connections for economic purposes also, yet scholars disagree if women really ever played an important economic role within merchant families. Some say only male bonds were of consequence in the trading business. Others have stated that women were in fact essential in the preservation of their family network, which led to more and stronger trading opportunities for their male relatives.
Through studying Alessandra's letters, as translated by Heather Gregory in her book Selected letters of Alessandra Strozzi, one might gain more insight into the economic importance of a women within her family network. As it is the most effective and structural method if one wishes to gain insight into someone's family connections, Social Network Analysis has been applied to Alessandra's letters. The goal of doing so is finding out more about how the social network of a woman from a merchant family looked like, and if the role she fulfilled in this network was economic, familial or perhaps even something else.
Alessandra Macinghi Strozzi (1408 - 1471) was born and raised in medieval Florence. Her family was wealthy enough for her to marry into the Strozzi merchant family. As the Strozzis were political opponents to the Medicis however, they were exiled in 1434. Alessandra and her eight children joined her husband in exile voluntarily. Sadly, both her husband and three of their children died from the plague during exile. Alessandra returned to Florence, sending her three remaining sons to live and work for her late husband's exiled cousins, while keeping her two daughters close.
Between 1447 and 1470, Alessandra wrote many letters to her sons Filippo, Matteo and Lorenzo who lived abroad in Naples and Bruges respectively. All kinds of information was included in them: she described parts of her search for suitable son-in-laws, but she also discussed topics like money matters and product prices. This economic aspect of her letters is especially interesting. Apparently, Alessandra used her personal connections for economic purposes also, yet scholars disagree if women really ever played an important economic role within merchant families. Some say only male bonds were of consequence in the trading business. Others have stated that women were in fact essential in the preservation of their family network, which led to more and stronger trading opportunities for their male relatives.
Through studying Alessandra's letters, as translated by Heather Gregory in her book Selected letters of Alessandra Strozzi, one might gain more insight into the economic importance of a women within her family network. As it is the most effective and structural method if one wishes to gain insight into someone's family connections, Social Network Analysis has been applied to Alessandra's letters. The goal of doing so is finding out more about how the social network of a woman from a merchant family looked like, and if the role she fulfilled in this network was economic, familial or perhaps even something else.
Alessandra's ego-networks
Alessandra's ego-networks were created through extensive study of 31 out of the 35 letters translated by Heather Gregory. The nodes (thus the names) represent the people mentioned by name in the letters. The ties (thus the lines between names) represent a connection between the two people. Only if contact between two persons was explicitly mentioned in the letters, a representing tie was included in the ego-networks. The resulting five networks, each containing different information, are both shown and described below.
Alessandra's ego-networks were created through extensive study of 31 out of the 35 letters translated by Heather Gregory. The nodes (thus the names) represent the people mentioned by name in the letters. The ties (thus the lines between names) represent a connection between the two people. Only if contact between two persons was explicitly mentioned in the letters, a representing tie was included in the ego-networks. The resulting five networks, each containing different information, are both shown and described below.
Basic network
To Alessandra's basic network, no other information has been added to keep the network as readable as possible.
As this network shows, Alessandra is a very centralized persona in her family network. She is connected to every node within at most three steps. She does not only know 110 people by name therefore, she also has had direct contact with most. Almost all people she mentioned by name were men- her being a woman seems to not have been much of a problem in establishing connections with people of the opposite sex.
Intensity network
This network shows which people were mentioned more frequently than others in the letters. So the thicker the tie, the more that person was named. Only the intensity of people directly connected to Alessandra has been added to this network.
Almost all the thickest ties connect Alessandra to members of her family and son-in-laws. This matches what is already known about exiled families: they mostly relied on their own relatives, keeping closely in touch with them. It also demonstrates Alessandra's functioning as a broker. The son-in-laws she selected became integrated in the family trading network through her, becoming important nodes within the Strozzi network.
Relationship differentiated network
Every colour represents a different kind of relationship within this network. Some people had more than one type of relationship to others. In that case, business was chosen over all others, to fit the economic goal of this analysis better.
Most people connected to Alessandra have either a business or an acquaintance connection to her. Her role was not simply the keeping together of the family; her intentions seemed to be more business than familial. Thus her role was quite economic, even though as a woman, she did not work directly for her family's trading business.
Combined network
This network combines the intensity network and the relationship differentiated network. It gives insight into which types of relationships were most intensive.
The content of this network is not really surprising- it shows Alessandra Strozzi as a central economic factor within her network. An estimated 50% of her relations when taking into consideration intensity, are business related. The other type of relations mentioned often were political. Most of these political people did not know Alessandra personally. Her knowing them is essential however, as it means she was keeping up with politics and knowledge on current politics was very important for someone connected to the trading business in her day and age.
Time lapse network
This network demonstrates when people's names were for the first time written down in Alessandra's letters. Therefore it shows how the network evolved over time. People were not taken out however, they were only included. So it does not show which people she stopped having contact with- there was not enough information present in her letters to do so.
What the time lapse network primarily shows is that Alessandra added most people into her network at the start and at the end of her letterwriting. The content of the letters explain all: in the beginning the Strozzi network had to be build up since the family was newly exiled, in the end more connections were needed since Alessandra tried to end the exile of her sons. This was only a probabilty because Cosimo de' Medici had died by then. Through her connections Alessandra Strozzi hoped to lift the ban on her sons, so they could return to Florence and therefore to her.
To Alessandra's basic network, no other information has been added to keep the network as readable as possible.
As this network shows, Alessandra is a very centralized persona in her family network. She is connected to every node within at most three steps. She does not only know 110 people by name therefore, she also has had direct contact with most. Almost all people she mentioned by name were men- her being a woman seems to not have been much of a problem in establishing connections with people of the opposite sex.
Intensity network
This network shows which people were mentioned more frequently than others in the letters. So the thicker the tie, the more that person was named. Only the intensity of people directly connected to Alessandra has been added to this network.
Almost all the thickest ties connect Alessandra to members of her family and son-in-laws. This matches what is already known about exiled families: they mostly relied on their own relatives, keeping closely in touch with them. It also demonstrates Alessandra's functioning as a broker. The son-in-laws she selected became integrated in the family trading network through her, becoming important nodes within the Strozzi network.
Relationship differentiated network
Every colour represents a different kind of relationship within this network. Some people had more than one type of relationship to others. In that case, business was chosen over all others, to fit the economic goal of this analysis better.
Most people connected to Alessandra have either a business or an acquaintance connection to her. Her role was not simply the keeping together of the family; her intentions seemed to be more business than familial. Thus her role was quite economic, even though as a woman, she did not work directly for her family's trading business.
Combined network
This network combines the intensity network and the relationship differentiated network. It gives insight into which types of relationships were most intensive.
The content of this network is not really surprising- it shows Alessandra Strozzi as a central economic factor within her network. An estimated 50% of her relations when taking into consideration intensity, are business related. The other type of relations mentioned often were political. Most of these political people did not know Alessandra personally. Her knowing them is essential however, as it means she was keeping up with politics and knowledge on current politics was very important for someone connected to the trading business in her day and age.
Time lapse network
This network demonstrates when people's names were for the first time written down in Alessandra's letters. Therefore it shows how the network evolved over time. People were not taken out however, they were only included. So it does not show which people she stopped having contact with- there was not enough information present in her letters to do so.
What the time lapse network primarily shows is that Alessandra added most people into her network at the start and at the end of her letterwriting. The content of the letters explain all: in the beginning the Strozzi network had to be build up since the family was newly exiled, in the end more connections were needed since Alessandra tried to end the exile of her sons. This was only a probabilty because Cosimo de' Medici had died by then. Through her connections Alessandra Strozzi hoped to lift the ban on her sons, so they could return to Florence and therefore to her.
Conclusion
Even though there is not much consent between scholars if women could have any economic importance within a network, the case study of Alessandra Strozzi is very clear therein. She was the central figure in her merchant family's network. She knew about 110 people by name. Most of her ties were economic in nature. Also, she functioned as a broker within her network, through the careful selection of marriage partners. Alessandra was one of the central figures for the Strozzi family in Florence; it is all there in her ego-networks.
Even though there is not much consent between scholars if women could have any economic importance within a network, the case study of Alessandra Strozzi is very clear therein. She was the central figure in her merchant family's network. She knew about 110 people by name. Most of her ties were economic in nature. Also, she functioned as a broker within her network, through the careful selection of marriage partners. Alessandra was one of the central figures for the Strozzi family in Florence; it is all there in her ego-networks.
H.E.J.
Source material obtained from...
Strozzi, Alessandra and Gregory, Heather. Selected letters of Alessandra Strozzi. Berkely: University of California Press, 1997.
For more information on the subject, look into...
Apellániz, Francisco. "Florentine networks in the Middle East in the early Renaissance". Mediterranean Historical Review 30, no. 2, 2015: 125 - 145.
Brucker, Gene A. Living on the edge in Leonardo's Florence; Selected essays. Berkeley:
University of California Press, 2005.
Crabb, Ann. The Strozzi of Florence; Widowhood and family solidarity in the Renaissance.
Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2000.
Rubinstein, Nicolai (ed.). Florentine studies; Politics and society in Renaissance Florence.
Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1968.
Strocchia, Sharon. "Resources; letters to her sons."
www.itergateway.org/resources/letters-to-her-sons
For more information on Social Network Analysis, look into...
Scott, John & Carrington, Peter J. The SAGE handbook of Social Network Analysis. London:
Sage Publications, 2011.
Strozzi, Alessandra and Gregory, Heather. Selected letters of Alessandra Strozzi. Berkely: University of California Press, 1997.
For more information on the subject, look into...
Apellániz, Francisco. "Florentine networks in the Middle East in the early Renaissance". Mediterranean Historical Review 30, no. 2, 2015: 125 - 145.
Brucker, Gene A. Living on the edge in Leonardo's Florence; Selected essays. Berkeley:
University of California Press, 2005.
Crabb, Ann. The Strozzi of Florence; Widowhood and family solidarity in the Renaissance.
Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2000.
Rubinstein, Nicolai (ed.). Florentine studies; Politics and society in Renaissance Florence.
Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1968.
Strocchia, Sharon. "Resources; letters to her sons."
www.itergateway.org/resources/letters-to-her-sons
For more information on Social Network Analysis, look into...
Scott, John & Carrington, Peter J. The SAGE handbook of Social Network Analysis. London:
Sage Publications, 2011.