Inhabitants of heritage: the dwellers of an Italian Renaissance palace and their problematic eviction in Ferrara, 1900-1940

This article examines the eviction of tenants and squatters from a Renaissance palace in Ferrara, purchased by the Italian state in 1920. The case stands at the crossroads of three processes in European history between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: the social and material 'decadence' of aristocratic residences, the birth of 'national heritage' and preservation policies and the explosion of the 'housing problem', following changes in urban demography and social structure. Considering a large range of sources, the article offers new insight into the conflict between different urban bureaucracies and inside them. It also explores the different forms of agency of working-class dwellers against the back-ground of troubled post-war years followed by the advent of fascism.