Abstract
The period between the 11th and 13th centuries was the age of mounted warriors. They formed a large and complex group that stood at the center of social, economic, and political relationships—relationships that were as important as they remain underexplored. In much of Italy, their presence grew over the course of the 11th century, following the crisis of public governmental structures and the emergence of lordship and other forms of local domination. The increased level of conflict tied to this general localization of power accelerated the process of militarization of authority—a process that can already be glimpsed in the 10th century—making the ability to take part in armed conflict on horseback an essential condition for anyone seeking to exercise any form of supremacy. In turn, the rise in conflict brought new resources to the warriors and increased their numbers. Both in the South and in the Center-North, this marked the beginning of the era of the militia—the period of political, social, and economic dominance of the knights. Historiography has paid little attention to the mounted warriors present in rural societies. In Italy, the focus has mostly been on the aristocracy and the militia of the urban communes. Although certainly more numerous than the urban knights, the mounted warriors who were not citizens or did not belong to the nobility have so far been considered almost exclusively in terms of their roles as fighters in communal armies, armed auxiliaries of the lords, or lower-ranking members of the feudal hierarchy, which in Italy was often centered around urban bishoprics. Very few studies have examined rural knights in their primary nature—as individuals generated by and active within rural worlds. As a result, our knowledge is based largely on a few case studies and scattered references in works more generally dedicated to lordship and village society. Thus, many economic, social, and cultural aspects of the history of rural knights have remained in the background. Similarly, the great variety of ways in which mounted warriors may have influenced all levels of local life remains to be clarified, beyond paradigms centered on dominatus loci (local lordship). This project seeks to fill that significant gap in research by systematically studying rural knights in four regions—Lombardy, Tuscany, Lazio, and Campania—based on a shared research framework and drawing from a wide range of sources. Located in the South, Center, and North of the country, and each with its own distinct characteristics, these selected regions will make it possible to examine the differing development of the rural militia depending on the political, settlement, social, and economic contexts. The study will specifically analyze all the elements that shaped their identity: military functions, proximity to lords, privileges and exemptions, land holdings and economic activities, lifestyle and consumption habits, ownership of dependent peasants, relationships with local communities, forms of political organization, and connections to wider regional or supra-local networks. At the same time, a broader survey will be conducted of other Italian regions to identify documentation of relevance to the topic. A shared database will collect the main sources. Finally, the regional case studies will be compared with each other and with the most relevant case studies found in other regions, in order to offer a comprehensive and multidimensional picture of a prominent social group.
Dettagli del progetto
Strutture Unibo coinvolte:
Dipartimento di Storia Culture Civiltà
Coordinatore:
Università degli Studi di ROMA Tor Vergata(Italy)
Contributo totale Unibo: Euro (EUR) 97.003,00
Durata del progetto in mesi: 24
Data di inizio
28/09/2023
Data di fine:
28/09/2025
