Power and the Senses: The Embattled Sensescapes of Savonarolan Florence

This thesis explores the relationship between the senses and the contestation of power in Florence during the Savonarolan period (1494-1498). This thesis has demonstrated that historical actors in this period consciously produced sensory experiences as a means of structuring their social relationships and asserting dominance over others. Accordingly, this thesis has developed a new methodology for interpreting and analysing primary sources for actions conducive to the sensorial construction of physical and imagined environments. This has shed new light on the senses as an important yet overlooked facet of human agency in the realms of social and political behaviour.