Between Courtoom and Castello: A Tuscan Dispute’s Social and Procedural Profile

Abstract

The role of institutions and judicial procedure in conflict resolution is a significant theme in recent scholarship on the later medieval Italian communes. It is usually difficult, however, to trace these themes in their broader social context, especially in rural communities. This article demonstrates judicial procedure’s role in a conflict between the notary Andrea and the magnate Bartolomeo in the parish of Latera during the 1340s. Its evidentiary basis consists of civic tribunals’ procedural registers, notarial cartularies, and legislation. The article excavates the relationship between institutional procedures, social networks, and local conflict on the eve of the Black Death.