City notaries and the administration of a territory: Lucca, 1430–1501
The present article examines the functions, personnel, reputation and effectiveness of notaries in the service of fifteenth-century Lucca following the restoration of liberty.
Machiavelli meets ‘The Prince’
On 24th June 1502, the Florentine politician and diplomat Niccolo Machiavelli came face to face with Cesare Borgia.
Eighth-century skeleton discovered near Venice
Archaeologists working on the island of Torcello, near Venice, have uncovered a medieval skeleton dating to around 700 A.D.
‘Vampire burial’ discovered in Italy dates to the 5th century AD, researchers find
The discovery of a 10-year-old’s body at a medieval Roman site in Italy suggests measures were taken to prevent the child, possibly infected with malaria, from rising from the dead and spreading disease to the living.
Why Pisa’s harbour disappeared
New insights into the evolution and eventual disappearance of Portus Pisanus, the lost harbour of Pisa, have been revealed.
How the borders of Italy changed during the Middle Ages
These maps show the changing medieval borders of the states found on the Italian peninsula.
Recording Miracles in Renaissance Italy
This essay has surveyed the changing form of Renaissance Italian ex-votos, and the ways in which they were compiled and conserved in a variety of shrines across the peninsula, in order to argue that votive offerings came to function as archives of the miraculous.
The Italian “commercial revolution”: an archaeological reading
Archaeology tells us more about how commerce really worked than written texts do, but it has not been used enough to construct historical narratives on its own; this lecture will offer one.
Renaissance Woman: The Life of Vittoria Colonna
Ramie Targoff’s Renaissance Woman tells of the most remarkable woman of the Italian Renaissance: Vittoria Colonna, Marchesa of Pescara.
Italian castle designed by Brunelleschi for sale
The great Renaissance architect Filippo Brunelleschi designed this castle, which was built near Florence in 1424.
Why hasn’t an earthquake toppled the Leaning Tower of Pisa?
Ironically, the very same soil that caused the leaning instability and brought the Tower to the verge of collapse, can be credited for helping it survive these seismic events.
NEW! The Medieval Magazine, No. 110: THE RISE OF THE MEDIEVAL CITY
In this issue, we focus on cities. From Barcelona, to Constantinople, to Bologna, we cover marriage, trade, slavery, and foundation stories. Take a trip with us around the world and learn about the hustle and bustle of everyday life in the medieval city.
The Medieval Magazine: (Volume 4: No. 2): Issue 104: Winter 2018
Banish the January doldrums with our latest issue featuring Sirens, the Bayeux Tapestry, Joan of Arc, and a trip to Ireland.
Mercantile Arithmetic in Renaissance Italy: A Translation and Study of Selected Passages from a Vernacular Abbaco Work
This essay is a study of a Renaissance Italian manuscript which has been published under the title Arte Giamata Aresmetica (‘The Art Called Arithmetic’).
Cardinals and the War of Ferrara
The bestowal of a red hat can turn even the most humbly born cleric into an ecclesiastical prince, but whereas few cardinals of the modern era have been born princely, most of those created in the Renaissance period could claim to be of noble lineage.
Linking the Mediterranean: The Construction of Trading Networks in 14th and 15th-century Italy
When the Mediterranean Sea is discussed historically, it is never a simple question of geography. Its meaning remains somewhat indeterminate. It refers to intellectual journeys that do not circumnavigate any one particular region; it indicates periods that splash over.
Medieval Castle for Sale in Italy: Torre di Fiume
Located on the border of Tuscany and Umbria, this eleventh-century castle has recently been restored.
A Medieval Man’s New Year’s Resolutions
In the diary of Gregorio Dati, an Italian merchant born in the fourteenth century, we can see resolutions tied to this urge to face a new year as a better man in an entry dated January 1, 1404.
Social Perception of Infertility and Its Treatment in Late Medieval Italy: Margherita Datini, an Italian Merchant’s Wife
This article seeks to elucidate the common social perception of infertility and its treatment in late medieval Europe by analyzing the case of Margherita Datini, an Italian merchant’s wife who lived in the 1400s.
The One about Michelangelo and the Onions: Jokes and Cultural Anxiety in the Early Sixteenth Century
This article investigates the texture of relationships within elite circles in Rome and Florence in the early sixteenth-century, and shows how visual and verbal humour at this time acted as a means through which to express anxieties about the pace of social change.
Castle for Sale in Tuscany
Located in the Tuscan hills near the town of Montalcino, Castel Verdelli dates back to the 14th century.
The Bolognese Societates Armatae of the Late 13th Century
The Bologna archives preserve the bye-laws of 24 „armed societies”, dating from between 1230 and the early 1300s, written in good notary Latin. Though known to exist in other Italian city-states, only few non-Bolognese armed society bye-laws are preserved.
Income and working time of a Fencing Master in Bologna in the 15th and early 16th century
Since ancient times, the master-at-arms profession has always been considered essential for the education of the nobility and the common citizenship, especially in the Middle Ages. Yet, we know nothing about the real standard of living of these characters.
Piety and Poor Relief: Confraternities in Medieval Cremona, c. 1334-1499
This dissertation focuses on confraternal piety and poor relief in the northern Italian city of Cremona between the mid-fourteenth century and the end of the fifteenth century.
