From the ghetto's creation in 1516 until its dissolution at the end of the 18th century, Jews in Venice were confined to a district enclosed by canals, patrolled by guards and locked at night. Yet its residents were essential players in Venetian life, and in practice the ghetto saw far more traffic through its gates than its founders intended. Erin Maglaque joins Tom to discuss what life in the ghetto was like, and why an open-air prison could be considered relatively tolerant by the standards of early modern Europe. Find further reading on the episode page: https://lrb.me/ghettopod Sponsored links: Find out more about Solved from the University of Toronto Press: https://utorontopress.com/9781487506827/solved/ Learn more about Serious Readers: https://seriousreaders.com/lrb/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.