Rediscovered presences: women as builders in the building sites of Rome and Latium between 16th and 18th century

The presence of women in Roman and Latium building sites in the modern age was not episodic. Yet, for a long time, gender identity prevailed over labour identity, and activities related to the construction of architecture were long considered the exclusive prerogative of men. On the contrary, construction sites have welcomed many female workers, employed in different, even heavy, roles. They deserve redemption from a persistent prejudice, which has erased their memory. An important contribution has come from the research conducted by the author in collaboration with the Archives of the Fabbrica of St. Peter’s in the Vatican, where one would never have imagined finding women permanently employed in the roles of the building site. As documented in notarial deeds relating to the production and trade of bricks and other similar activities in the Papal States, female employment also affected the entrepreneurial sphere of construction. The building trade in the Modern Age is therefore configured as a multiform reality, in which custom and necessity concurred to emancipate the female condition, overcoming the historical prejudice of the preclusion of certain jobs to women. The distinction was much less defined than is commonly believed, despite the persistent exclusion of women from trade guilds. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, a large sector of women's employment in the Papal States consisted of the building industry and related activities. The various roles assigned to women are documented both in the Fabbrica of St. Peter’s and in numerous private construction sites in Rome and the provincial fiefdoms. The tasks performed by women carters, transporters, and bricklayers are surprising not only for the substantial equality of pay compared to men, but also for the strength and determination shown by these exceptional women. The same equality is found in the relations between the Fabbrica of St. Peter’s and the suppliers of building materials, among whom the 'carter women' stood out for their entrepreneurial skills. If evidence of the presence of women bricklayers in St. Peter's building site is rare, it is instead widely documented in other building sites of the 17th century, from Abruzzo to the noble fiefdoms of Lazio. Here, the work of several female bricklayers is documented until the 18th century. An example are the building sites in Palestrina, a fief of the Barberini family, where several 'masonry women', 'spicconatrici' (breakers with a pickaxe) and 'garzone' (apprentices) worked. For instance, several women were active in the building sites of the monastery of Sant'Andrea (18th cent.) and the church of Santa Rosalia (17th cent.). This essay reconstructs the activities and roles of these strong-willed women in order to bring to light their history, memory and professional dignity, now forgotten