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Giovan Francesco de Rossi

1796–1854

Born
6 Dec 1796, Rome
Country of birth
Papal States, today Italy
Died
30 Sep 1854, Venice
facts
7
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

  • Birth6 Dec 1796, RomeProbable1 source
  • Death30 Sep 1854, VeniceProbable1 source
  • ParentGiovanni Gherardo de RossiConfirmed1 source
  • TitleChamberlain of the Duke of LuccaConfirmed1 source

A life in time

  1. Born · Rome

    Birth, Rome

  2. Died · Venice

    Death, Venice

What was it like?

The world around Rome, 1796: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

On feast days, ordinary women often adorned themselves with coral jewelry, which was meticulously categorized into fourteen different shades, ranging from blood-red to black. This industry was so significant that it drew the interest of foreign travelers who observed the detailed production process in Livorno.

Known for

Titles held

  • Chamberlain of the Duke of Lucca
Fashion

Coral jewelry for festive occasions

On feast days, ordinary women often adorned themselves with coral jewelry, which was meticulously categorized into fourteen different shades, ranging from blood-red to black. This industry was so significant that it drew the interest of foreign travelers who observed the detailed production process in Livorno.

Everyday dress for peasant men

Peasant men typically dressed in coarse-fabric jackets, knee-length breeches, and waistcoats. While these garments were not refined in cut, there was a noticeable attention to detail and a sense of good taste in the pairing of colors.

Music
Around 1775–1790

Handel's music in Florence

Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo supported Handel's vocal music, and his collection included manuscript scores of works like Alexander's Feast and Judas Maccabaeus.

Around 1775–1790

Pergolesi's Stabat Mater tradition

During Lent in Florence, a popular and recurring musical event was the performance of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, which became a hallowed tradition.

Getting around

Extra animals for steep terrain

Travelers often needed extra horses or mules to navigate steep or sandy mountain terrain, paying extra fees for these additional animals.

Rare river travel by boat

Travel by boat on the Arno River was possible but rare, as travelers often preferred carriages out of fear of heavy rains and the river's unpredictable water levels.

Daily life

Schools and Student Life

State-run schools for girls taught reading, writing, arithmetic, and textile work, with deserving students eligible for a substantial dowry of 140 scudi after eight years. Pupils were required to maintain absolute silence and were corrected with zeal and charity if they showed negligence or inappropriate behavior.

Peasant Cooking and Meals

Peasant families frequently cooked large pots of vegetable soup, especially on Fridays when meat was avoided. Leftovers were repurposed by reboiling the soup in a pan with bread on subsequent days.

Food

Acquacotta: The Peasant Stone Soup

Ordinary people often ate acquacotta, a simple dish literally meaning cooked water, made from water, stale bread, and onions.

Leftover Bread Soup Traditions

Peasants commonly prepared large pots of vegetable and bread soup, specifically adhering to meatless diets on Fridays. Leftover soup was often reboiled with bread in the following days to create ribollita.

Prices and wages

Fixed Price Bread in Florence

In Florence, the price of a loaf of bread was fixed at eight soldi for most of the eighteenth century, with authorities adjusting the loaf's weight rather than the price itself to manage market fluctuations.

Self-Sufficiency and Rural Debt

Many rural families produced their own food and clothing instead of buying them, often paying artisans like cobblers or tailors with their own farm products rather than using money. In some areas, sharecropping families were frequently deeply indebted to their landlords, with average debts reaching 82 scudi.

Work

Peasant Wisdom and Clever Survival

Peasants often used folk proverbs to guide their daily labor, such as the saying that one should prune olive trees with a fool at the base and a wise man at the top. They also relied on clever tactics, like hiding beans from landlords to cook as acqua cotta, to survive and maintain their own household needs.

The Mezzadria Sharecropping Life

Peasant farmers, known as mezzadri, lived and worked on land under a sharecropping system, often balancing their master's requirements with small personal gardens and livestock. They were considered inattuali servants who lived with their own families in separate homes rather than in the master's house.

News and letters

Local mail messengers called procaccia

In the 18th century, some smaller towns had a procaccia, a messenger who traveled to a city like Siena to collect and deliver mail for multiple surrounding villages.

During their lifetime

  1. 1796

    French Invasion and Republics (1796)

    French armies invaded Italy in 1796, initiating the era of the Italian Republics and ending the old order of the Settecento. This brought new political systems and constitutions that transformed the map of the peninsula.

  2. 1799

    Anti-Republican Risings (1799)

    Popular anti-republican uprisings occurred throughout Italy during the summer and autumn of 1799, reflecting the intense instability following the French invasion and the collapse of the newly formed republican systems.

  3. 1835

    Deadly cholera epidemic hits Italy in 1835

    A cholera epidemic struck Italy between 1835 and 1837, resulting in over 140,000 deaths, including nearly 20,000 in Naples alone. Poor sanitation in urban centers favored the spread of the disease, which disproportionately affected the poor.

  4. 1842

    First seaside medical hostel opens in 1842

    In 1842, a seaside hostel was opened in Viareggio, Tuscany, specifically for treating children suffering from tuberculosis. This was the first facility of its kind in Italy, marking an early attempt at marine therapy.

  5. 1847

    First telegraph line established in 1847

    The first Italian telegraph line connecting Florence, Pisa, and Livorno was established in 1847. This technology represented a major leap in communication speed across the region.

Family

Parents

Spouses

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.