www.thecollector.com
Romani People in the Renaissance Era: History & Impact
When we think of the Renaissance era in Western Europe our thoughts generally tend towards the opulence and wealth of ruling families such as the Medici. Their commissioning of art and architecture and a wealth of literature and documentation have provided us with a vivid view of life from the 14th to the 16th century. Yet on the fringes of this prosperity lurked myriad migrant communities arriving from as far away as India and Africa. Read on to learn more about the Romani People in the Renaissance.
An Odyssey From East to West in the Renaissance Era
Map of Romani Migration in the Middle Ages (500-1500 CE), 2024. Source: The Archaeologist
The origins of the mysterious Romani people have long been disputed. What can be agreed upon, however, is that they are not European in origin. In the 18th century, research by several scholars revealed that the Romani language bore strong links to Sanskrit from northern India. Today, it is generally accepted that the Romani’s roots lie in India, although over the centuries, they have crossed continents as a nomadic people, with their language evolving as they traveled.
Two Studies of a Roma Woman and a Roma Boy in a Large Hat, Jacques de Gheyn II, c. 1605. Source: The Art Institute of Chicago
As roads improved across the East and into Europe from the 11th century onwards, organized trading networks began to develop and flourish. In tandem with this, a growing demand amongst the wealthier merchant and banking families, particularly in Italy and France, for luxurious and exotic commodities sourced via the Spice Trade emerged. This led to city-states such as Venice and Genoa becoming central to world trade.
In addition to allowing the free movement of traders in luxury goods, this expansion of intercontinental business offered opportunities for itinerant travelers to find work. The Romani wandered in groups of thirty or forty people, led by men known as Dukes or Counts, and over time, these troupes fragmented into disparate groups. Progressing from Byzantium via the Ottoman Empire over a period of centuries, they followed the money. Without doubt they exploited their fantastical and foreign appearance to draw local interest with their musical and mystical performances. However, the idea of outsiders arriving as tinkers, palm-readers, or entertainers, as well as turning their hand to pretty much any ad hoc task they came across, fuelled the wariness felt by those they encountered. Not least of the concerns of those in the early Renaissance would have been the still-potent fear of the Black Death being brought into their communities.
A Romani by Any Other Name
The Stopping Place of the Gypsies, Jacques Callot, 1621. Source: Art Institute of Chicago, USA
Although, in recent times, the name Romani has come into common usage, this was not always the case. In previous centuries the Romani had variously been referred to as gypsies and, during the Renaissance period, Egyptians. The word gypsy had evolved from the word Egyptian. The expression originated from records of the Romani arriving from Egypt or an area of Greece once referred to as Little Egypt. Although today the name gypsy is still familiar to us, if somewhat contemptuously used, the Romani were given different names in each country they passed through. In Germany, they were known as Tatars and, in later years, as Zigeuners. The Swiss referred to them as Saracens and pagans, whereas in France they became the Bohémiens in light of the document of safe passage they carried from Sigismond, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia.
Governments Act for and Against the Romani
Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund’s 1423 Roma Decree. Source: The National Archives of Hungary
… we have arranged for the granting of liberty to them, that whenever this Viscount Lazarus and his people may come to our said dominions, that is to say, to the towns and cities, then by this present charter we strongly command and enjoin your allegiance that you shall assist and protect this Lazlo Voivoda and the Gypsies subject to him without any hindrance or molestation, and that you shall protect him from all hindrance and damage. And if there should be any quarrel or dispute between them on the part of any one, you shall have no right, nor any one of you, to judge and condemn, but only the Voivoda of that Laszlo.
Above is an excerpt from the first anti-discrimination decree for the Romani people. It was issued in 1423 by Sigismund, the Holy Roman Emperor, and requested free passage for a certain Laszlo Volvoda and his fellow travelers upon its presentation in places where they wished to stop. It was, however, by no means indicative of the general attitude towards the Romani during the Renaissance. Among the itinerant population flooding Europe from the 14th century onwards, it seems that the Romani (referred to as gypsies in many historical documents) were variously mistrusted or tolerated as entertainers and fortune tellers but never wholly accepted into any one community. In contrast with Sigismund’s decree in their favor, the English parliament in 1530 (with amendments in later decades) passed The Egyptians Act demanding that the:
diverse and foreign people…(who) many times, by craft and subtlety, have deceived the people for their money; and also have committed many heinous felonies and robberies must leave the shores of Britain within sixteen days.
It seems that Sigismund was in the minority in his support of the Romani and their way of life.
Vagabonds and Thieves?
The Fortune Teller, Georges de la Tour, c. 1630s. Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
But despite their poverty, they had sorceresses among them who looked at people’s hands and told them what had happened to them or what would happen. […] What was worse, it was said that when they talked to people they contrived […] to make money flow out of other people’s purses into their own. I must say I went there three or four times to talk to them and could never see that I lost a penny…
The extract above from a diary, Journal d’un Bourgeois à Paris, written between 1405 and 1449 by an unknown Frenchman, tells us, through one man’s eyes, how the Romani were often perceived by the general public. Their distinctive appearance and behavior seemed to have a glimmer of magic about them. Whether they were criminals or mystics, the stereotypes preceded them.
Mentions in records of the times of the Romani being held in jail or on prison galleys may provide proof of criminality on their part. What many historians agree upon is that tightening vagrancy laws designed to protect the local poor appear to have ensnared the traveling bands of Romani. Contemporary artworks and accounts refer to them as vagabonds and thieves, hence the passing of laws such as The Egyptians Act of 1530.
Queen Elizabeth I, artist unknown, c. 1575. Source: National Portrait Gallery, London
Given the lack of a written record of Romani history by the people, the story of their plight is skewed. They appear to have been disliked and unwelcome in the hubbub of travelers, traders, and migrant workers settling in Europe during the Renaissance. Perhaps the very things that attracted people to them, their exoticism and difference, were also perceived as threats to those whose towns and villages they arrived in.
In the harsh environment of failing harvests and falling incomes, agricultural workers, then the majority of the workforce, feared the strangers arriving in their midst in search of scarce work, food, and shelter. By the early 17th century, numerous European countries had passed laws demanding the expulsion of gypsies from their lands. The English, under Tudor Queen Elizabeth I, went so far as to introduce the death penalty for anyone who even befriended a gypsy.
Fear and Fascination: Malevolent and Mystic
Traveling Roma, Jacques Callot, c. 1620. Source: Museum of Tarnów Land, Poland
Most of them […] had their ears pierced and wore a silver ring […] or two […] in each. The men were very dark, with curly hair; the women were the ugliest you ever saw and the darkest […]. They had no dresses but an old coarse piece of blanket tied on the shoulder […]. In short, they were the poorest creatures that anyone had ever seen come into France.
Once again, our friend, the Bourgeois à Paris, paints a vivid picture of the Romani as they appeared in Paris during the 15th century. The Romani’s Otherness and the mystery surrounding their origins piqued interest. It fostered suspicion amongst the native Renaissance populations, a viewpoint often reflected in the Orientalist artwork of the later years of the period and perpetuated for centuries to come.
In Simon Vouet’s painting of 1620, The Fortune Teller, he depicts the eponymous woman of mystery as alien and strange to the European gaze. The dark, weathered skin of the fortune teller and the men in the painting speak of their travels and Eastern origins. As with many such images, there is a cautionary tale for the wealthy European—a fool and her money are soon parted. Here, however, Vouet adds a twist to the tale—as the gypsy woman seeks payment for the fortune she tells, she is being robbed by the man behind her.
The Fortune Teller, Simon Vouet, c. 1620. Source: The National Gallery of Canada
The level of distrust felt and the number of convictions meted out to the Romani illustrate how those who have encountered them over the centuries have applied stereotypical ideas of Romani characters and lifestyles that may have been inaccurate. With such a widespread diaspora across Renaissance Europe, it seems likely that many would have had some contact or heard tales (true or not) relating to their presence and activities. In depictions of the Romani, we often find reference to their skill reputation for thievery, begging, and vagrancy.
While Western art and literature also provide us with images of palm-reading, tarot cards, music-making, or dance, reference is rarely made to the peaceable nature of the majority of Romani. A salient feature of their arrival at settlements along their way was the lack of a military or weapon-wielding presence. Hendrick Avercamp’s Landscape with Gypsy Women Telling Fortunes shows a welcoming village scene with the villagers smiling at the amusing band of gypsies as their fortunes are told. Again, the Romani’s primarily linguistic history may have left the majority of detail by the wayside, but Europe’s artists at least have left us some idea of their diverse lives.
Romani: Persecuted People
Landscape with Gypsy Women Telling Fortunes, Hendrick Avercamp, c. 1600. Source: Kunsthalle Hamburg, Germany
Tracing the odyssey of the Romani from their beginnings in India around a thousand years ago to their dispersal throughout Europe into the Renaissance era, we may feel some admiration for their determination and resilience in the face of enormous adversity. They were forced to assimilate new languages along the way, adapt to new customs, and offer a convincing and non-threatening persona to those they sought work from. It is easy to see how suspicion often greeted them.
Despite this, we cannot ignore the prison records and tales of theft and trickery that followed the Romani progress. Perhaps much of this imprisonment and punishment was used as a deterrent to vagrancy. Famine and war in this period resulted in widespread poverty in Western Europe. Villages and townships could not afford to feed and offer work to travelers hence the laws forcibly ejecting the gypsy bands from their parish and even from their country.
Gypsies in the Market, Hans Burgkmair, c. 1510. Source: Web Gallery of Art
The Romani may have been persecuted over time, but they are also a people with a rich tradition passed on by word of mouth and customs of dance and music, folklore, and pride. The Romani may have been suspected of malice and criminality in the Renaissance era, but they also served as a welcome source of colorful entertainment to those who, in a time of change and turmoil, crossed their palms with silver with the hope of receiving news of better fortunes to come.
Wallet :
$ 0.00 
News Feed (Home)
Popular Posts 
Events 
Blog 
Market 
Forum 
Headline News
VidWatch
Game Zone
Top PodCasts
