Memorie
Alessandro Giacomelli, Il palatium del vescovo. Mutamento e sperimentazione istituzionale a Lucca (1080-1130 ca.)
The paper investigates the re-functionalization of the highly connoted term palatium in Lucca between the late 11th and early 12th centuries (approximately 1080-1130). Until 1081, the term was reserved for a specific building: the palatium domini Imperatoris, the core of the power of the Marquises of Tuscia. Following the crisis of the March, the bishops of Lucca appropriated the term, using it to construct for themselves a new seigneurial profile and, at least in the case of Benedetto, to assert a claim to hegemony over the city community.
Ludovica Medved, Un frate e un monaco alla Camera del Comune. Spunti di vita religiosa, economica e sociale a Firenze nel primo Trecento
This essay examines four account books from the early fourteenth century kept by three religious officials serving as treasurers of the Florentine Commune: a Cistercian monk from S. Salvatore a Settimo and two Servite friars from SS. Annunziata. Through an analysis of these records, the study highlights the widespread diffusion of bookkeeping in fourteenth-century Florentine society, shedding light on the social and cultural dynamics of a phenomenon that engaged both clerical circles and the lower urban classes.
Michele Impagnatiello, Libri prodotti, libri rubati: donne e cultura manoscritta tra lavoro, malavita e devozione nella Bologna dei secoli XIII-XV
Focusing on late Middle Ages Bologna, this study explores the presence of women in the production, circulation, and use of manuscripts through notarial records and criminal proceedings. Moving beyond the traditional focus on aristocratic, monastic or sanctified figures, attention is given to women who were not confined to courts or monastic cloisters, whose traces emerge sporadically in judicial and notarial sources. The research reveals a spectrum of female engagement with the written word – as readers, scribes, producers, and patrons.
Vanna Arrighi, La segreteria di Cosimo I de’ Medici: nuovi protagonisti e nuove forme documentarie
This essay examines how Cosimo I de’ Medici reshaped Florence’s chancery, blending republican administrative traditions with new princely structures. It highlights the rise of secretaries and auditors as key actors, the creation of innovative documentary forms, and the growing overlap between court service and public office. Through institutional reforms and personal networks, Cosimo built a centralized, flexible bureaucracy that redefined governance in the nascent Medici state.
Stefano Talamini, Monumenti scritti della piccola Patria. Il patrimonio archivistico dell’Istria e il nazionalismo italiano tra Otto e Novecento
The paper explores the history of Istria’s archival heritage between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, showing how political change and national ideologies shaped the use of records. From Pietro Kandler’s early studies to the nationalist appropriation by Italian elites, documents became tools to assert an Italian identity against emerging Slavic movements. After WW-I, fascist policies reinforced this ideological use, while archives stayed under Italian local elite’s control. After 1945, amid shifting borders and displacement, they became contested symbols between Italy and Yugoslavia.
Recensioni [scarica PDF]
Enzo Caffarelli, L’anima medievale nei nomi contemporanei (Aldo A. Settia)
Luca Molà, Nel segno di Marco Polo. Venezia, l’Asia, la seta (Sergio Tognetti)
Caterina Llull i Sabastida tra Sicilia e Catalogna. Edizione del suo secondo libro mastro (1479-1486), a cura di Martina Del Popolo e Gemma Colesanti (Amedeo Feniello)
Gilles Narcy, Il mondo dei navicelli. Territorio, navigazione e commercio nella Toscana granducale (Alessandro Lo Bartolo)
Giovanna Fiume, Mediterraneo corsaro. Storia di schiavi, pirati e rinnegati in età moderna (David Salomoni)
Giacomo Girardi, La patria e lo Stato. La famiglia Breganze nella storia d’Italia, 1796-1922 (Emilio Scaramuzza)
Notizie [scarica PDF]
Archivio Storico Italiano – ISSN 0391-7770