Mascolinità mediterranee a confronto (Medioevo -Età Moderna). Saggio introduttivo

International audience; Over the span of a little less than thirty years, the “multiple masculinities” which have existed and coexisted in past times have come to occupy a rather prominent place in the research agendas of scholars interested in gender history. Literature has covered a vast array of topics: from the construction of different types of masculinity in the most diverse (regional, political, social, economic, religious) contexts and how it was expressed, to the relationship between masculinity and power and hierarchies, for example, often adopting multidisciplinary approaches. This introductory chapter offers a general overview of the main research trends as well as a more in depth look at the topics which are explored in the articles that compose this monographic issue of «Genesis».