This arrangement, called the "cicisbeatura" or "cicisbeismo", was widely practised, especially among the nobility of the Italian cities of Genoa, Nice, Venice, Florence and Rome. While many contemporary references to "cicisbei" and descriptions of their social standing exist, scholars diverge on the exact nature of the phenomenon. Some maintain that this institution was defined by marriage contracts, others question this claim and see it as a peculiarity of 18th-century customs that is not well defined or easily explained. Other scholars see it as a sign of the increasing emancipation of aristocratic women in the 18th century.