Memorie
So Nakaya, La giustizia civile a Lucca nella prima metà del XIV secolo
While medieval justice in Italian cities has been studied from new perspectives over the last few decades, few studies have investigated the practices of civil justice. This essay, based on court records available in Lucca’s State archive, examines the practices of civil judicial trials in the first half of the 14th century. A close examination of civil suits reveals a close mutual relation between communal authority that regulate judicial practices and people that use the judicial systems strategically, which indicates citizens’ participation in and contribution to the operation of communal institutions.
Petra Pertici, Novelle senesi in cerca d’autore. L’attribuzione ad Antonio Petrucci delle novelle conosciute sotto il nome di Gentile Sermini
A valuable XVth century collection of short stories has been attributed, until now, to Gentile Sermini who, actually, never existed. The stories, well known during the XVth and XVIth centuries, were rediscovered by scholars in the XVIIIth century and attributed to the mysterious Sermini. This study traces the clues that allow to ascribe the collection to the literary coterie gathered around the powerful Sienese Petrucci family. According to the themes addressed by the stories, it would be possible to recognize the humanist Andreoccio Petrucci as the author of a text that is incomplete and lacks of a final revision. Many elements and the tradition of the manuscript itself suggest, however, a juvenile divertissement by the mercenary Antonio Petrucci, a cousin of the humanist. Antonio, who was an influential figure in Siena for a long period, was later sentenced for high treason and became the target of a defamatory campaign that also involved his leterary work that since then circulated anonymous and stigmatized for its scabrous and desacrating content.
Kurt Weissen, La rete commerciale tedesca delle compagnie fiorentine romanam curiam sequentes, 1410- 1470
During the 15th century, there were never more than five to seven Florentine banks operating as mercatores romanam curiam sequentes in the international curial monetary transaction market at the same time. The transfer of money from Germany to the curia was also based on coexistence and informal market arrangements. Whilst Florentines were fully integrated into the network and benefitted from its communication channels and logistical support, Germans were denied this privilege. All attempts to establish a permanent and direct connection between Germany and the curial financial system in the 15th century failed, primarily because of the low revenues in this business and the severe economic fluctuations in German trade. This meant that in times of crisis, the difficulties inherent to this business very quickly led to problems that could not be solved.
Remo L. Guidi, Storia in ombra, ovvero Bessarione e i Francescani
Those who study the XVth century have no problem recognizing the influence the Franciscans exercised on every aspect of life in that century. Why then did the Franciscans need a Cardinal Protector, given their indispensable role in so many of the Papal initiatives? Cardinal Bessarione was appointed Protector of the Franciscans by Pope Pius II. As we know, the Cardinal was extremely busy, and the Franciscans were experiencing one of the most turbulent periods of their internal history. The article examines this little known aspect of the Cardinal’s life, which, rather unusually, has also been neglected by the Franciscan historiography.
Discussioni
Leandro Perini, A proposito di una nuova edizione del De bello italico di Bernardo Rucellai
Recensioni
Chris Wickham, Le società dell’alto medioevo (Gian Paolo G. Scharf)
Alessio Fiore, Signori e sudditi: strutture e pratiche del potere signorile in area umbro marchigiana (Francesco Pirani)
Vieri Mazzoni, Accusare e proscrivere il nemico politico. Legislazione antighibellina e persecuzione giudiziaria a Firenze (Giuliano Milani)
Statuti del Comune di Firenze. Tradizione archivistica e ordinamenti a cura di Giuseppe Biscione (Enrico Spagnesi)
Eva Pibiri, En voyage pour monseigneur. Ambassadeurs officiers et messagiers à la court de Savoye - Tommaso Duranti, Diplomazia e autogoverno a Bologna nel Quattrocento (Isabella Lazzarini)
Maria Elisa Soldani, Uomini d’affari e mercanti toscani nella Barcellona del Quattrocento (Sergio Tognetti)
La sollecitudine ecclesiale di Pio XI alla luce delle nuove fonti archivistiche a cura di C. Semeraro (Maria Paiano)
Notizie
Archivio Storico Italiano – ISSN 0391-7770