Category: findings
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Why large numbers of testaments are needed and how exceptions to rules can be relevant I have just returned from a short stint in the Archivio di Stato di Firenze (ASF), 18 September to 2 October. It may be my last archival collecting of testaments for the project, at least in the ASF. The purpose…
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Expats have loosen roots and look for peers to reconstruct a sense of community and navigate everyday life together. Here is Augustinus’ story… from 1450s. Augustinus de Lovana was a 15th c. baker from today’s Flemish Brabant, in Flanders. This area has long been a crossroads of cultures, languages, and travellers. In the Middle Ages, artisans, merchants, and workers frequently…
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Medieval wills are precious mines of information for historians, art historians, scholars of fashion and material culture, but also for sociologists, anthropologists, economists.Behind the dryness of notarial formulas lie glimpses of real life—human relationships, emotions, hopes for life after death, and for the lives of those who would remain on Earth. Journeys and ventures of various…
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All the documents our project looks at have one thing in common – they were drawn up by a notary. In medieval Italy, notaries played a crucial role in the personal, commercial and civic lives of every individual. They were responsible for drafting, authenticating, and preserving official documents such as contracts of all kinds, deeds,…
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Waste and reuse are key topics in modern consumer society, but in the Middle Ages, there was no discussion around them. Considering the high cost of producing new objects, everything had to be reused, recycled, or transformed down to the very last bit. Parchments were made from animal skins (sheep, goat, or calf) and were…
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Have you ever walked through the cloister of Vic Cathedral and noticed a group of three slender Gothic columns marked at their base with a small coat of arms depicting a castle? These aren’t just decorative elements. They are the material legacy of a fourteenth-century canon who ensured his memory would be carved into the…
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Arxiu i Biblioteca Episcopal de Vic, Arxiu de la Cúria Fumada, vol. 3536, ff.37r-38v.10th of July 1410 A description or translation
