Memorie
Paolo Grillo, «Consules potius quam imperantes»: una proposta di riconsiderazione della magistratura consolare a partire dall’esempio di Milano (1138-1162)
The essay reassesses the consular magistracy in twelfth-century communes, questioning the idea that consuls directly expressed aristocratic dominance. Focusing on Milan (1138-1162), it challenges a rigid link between social supremacy and political power, highlighting citizen participation and individual competence. Prosopographical analysis reveals no stable family hegemonies and shows that appointments were selective and functional. The prominence of judges reflects the judicial bias of surviving sources. Consuls thus emerge as magistrates delegated by the urban community and accountable to civic assemblies.
Paolo Visigalli, Marco Polo and the «Heresy of Evil»: Encountering Manichaeans in Southeastern China
By integrating recent scholarship on the Devisement dou monde with studies on Manichaeism and the Church of the East in China, this paper revisits one of Marco Polo’s most enigmatic narratives: the encounter in Fuzhou involving Marco, his uncle Maffeo, and a secretive religious sect. This episode, documented exclusively in the Latin ‘Zt’ manuscript, captures a rare cross-cultural interaction between two Venetian Catholics and a community the Polos identified as Christian, but which modern scholars recognize as Manichaean. This study provides a comprehensive re-evaluation of this episode, deconstructing its layered voices – from the Fuzhou practitioners to the Latin redactors – while incorporating relevant historical and archaeological findings.
Simone Picchianti, Riflessi economici della Guerra degli Otto Santi (1375-1378). Il conflitto tra Firenze e la Chiesa nella documentazione della Badia a Settimo
The War of the Eight Saints (1375-1378) pitted the Florentine commune against the papacy and produced political, economic, and spiritual consequences. Struck by excommunication and interdict, the Florentines responded by acting harshly toward the ecclesiastical institutions within their dominions: first through heavy fiscal impositions, and subsequently through the expropriation of extensive urban and rural properties. This article examines the effects of the fiscal and expropriative policies implemented during the conflict on the property holdings of ecclesiastical institutions. It takes as its privileged case study the Cistercian abbey of Settimo, located in the Florentine countryside. A particularly detailed accounting register makes it possible to reconstruct the economic situation of the monastery and to assess, with a good degree of reliability, the impact of these policies.
Gigliola Fragnito, Iacopo Bonfadio ovvero della precarietà della vita di corte
This essay reconstructs the life of the Renaissance humanist Iacopo Bonfadio (1509-1550), emphasizing the instability of courtly existence. Through his letters and writings, it traces his constant movements among patrons, intellectual circles, and religious networks in Rome, Padua, and Naples. Influenced by heterodox spiritual currents, Bonfadio experienced both cultural vitality and personal frustration. His career illustrates the precarious dependence of intellectuals on powerful patrons and the uncertainties of life within sixteenth-century courts.
Recensioni [scarica PDF]
Paul Bertrand, Forger le faux. Les usages de l’écrit au Moyen Âge (Serena Galasso)
Guillaume Calafat – Mathieu Grenet, Mediterranei. Storia delle mobilità umane (1492-1750) (Matteo Calcagni)
Ana Lucia Araujo, Humans in Shackles. An Atlantic History of Slavery (Michaela Valente)
Tradizione e modernità. La comunità greca di Livorno tra Sette e Ottocento, a cura di Andrea Addobbati e Umberto Cini (Renato Pasta)
Alessio Petrizzo, Parole di brigante. Scrivere di sé in un carcere dell’Italia unita (Marco Pignotti)
Simon Martin, Il martire. Storia di Giovanni Berta (Alfonso Venturini)
Francesca Pino, Raffaele Mattioli. Una biografia intellettuale (Roberta Garruccio)
Notizie [scarica PDF]
Archivio Storico Italiano – ISSN 0391-7770