Search

This book is a collection of seven essays with an introduction by the editor. The contributions propose first-hand studies of some of the less researched aspects of the history of the Italian communes: the practices of conflict, vendetta and pacification. The variety of different ways of resolving conflicts brought to light by the studies for the various civic and rural contexts (Mantua, Parma, Pisa, Lucca, Florence and the Valdinievole), between the beginning of the thirteenth and the mid fourteenth century, indicate how normal such social relations were, the widespread nature of the feud and the legitimisation and centrality of the culture of the vendetta within the political arena of the commune. The book hence offers a precious contribution for a review of the prevalent narration of the vendetta in late mediaeval Italian society.

This book brings together the proceedings of the study days organised to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Florence University PhD course in Mediaeval History. It offers, first and foremost to the broad public of young scholars of Italian mediaeval history, an overview of conceptual approaches to the major issues characterising the various ambits of mediaeval research over the last twenty years.

This book proposes a series of studies devoted to one of the most important areas of political and institutional history, that of the relations between the political dimension and the exercise of justice. Centred on the experience of Florence, but open to comparison with that of other parts of Italy, the investigation brings to light how, in the transformation of the political framework of the age of the Comune to that of the territorial State between the thirteenth and the fifteenth centuries, in the relations between the powers active in the territory the sphere of justice offered scope for debate and political competition as well as leverage for legitimisation. One of the intentions of the book is, in fact, to contribute to revising the concept of justice, going beyond the traditional vision of public function and an aspect of the progressive affirmation of the State.

This book contains the proceedings of the first international conference organised by the Centro di Studi sulla civiltà comunale of the University of Florence, and offers a fine overview of the contribution made by international historiography to the history of the Italian Comunes. One of the most significant periods in the country's past is addressed here by some of the leading international specialists through the reconstruction of the approaches, issues and outcomes of the principal foreign historiographies (German, French, American, Spanish and English). The result is a fairly articulated picture of how the civilisation of the Comune has been treated and appraised over time outside Italy. Consequently, the book is offered as an updated tool of historiographic reflection and as a useful yardstick for studies devoted to the European urban world.

The PhD course in Mediaeval History of the University of Florence is one of the oldest in the Italian university circuit. Founded in 1983 by Girolamo Arnaldi, Elio Conti and Raoul Manselli, all the cycles of the courses were launched, achieving results of the greatest significance in the sphere of research. Over the years, about sixty young students and a couple of dozen teachers have given shape to a human and intellectual experience based on exchange and the acceptance of different points of view. Traced out in this book is a brief history of the first twenty years, rendering account of the activities fostered and the research carried out, and providing the scientific and bibliographic profiles of each member.

This book is a collection of contributions by the Italian scholarship fellows at the Deutsches Historisches Institut of Rome over the last decade. It is intended as a tribute to one of the leading mediaevalists at international level, a scrupulous and sensitive scholar of Italian history. Over and above all this, it is a sign of gratitude from the young academics who have been able to consolidate their research thanks to such scholarships. Consequently the 14 contributions that make up the book do not share the academic orientation of any particular school, but range over various research sectors and different chronological periods.