Ordine, calcolo e “ragione” nell’Italia tardo medievale

Elena Maccioni

;Sergio Tognetti

2025-01-01

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Abstract

The volume opens a mini-series linked to the PRIN 2022 project "Redde rationem. Order, calculation and reason in the urban societies of late Medieval Italy', coordinated by the University of Cagliari with the participation of the universities of Florence, Milan and Siena. Overcoming the idea of the “crisis” of the late Middle Ages, the project adopts a vision that emphasises the construction of order, rationality and administrative tools. The key term is “reason”, understood as accounting, common sense, justice, social order and morality. This concept emerges in mercantile practice, public regulation and law, but also in religious life. This publication, which brings together the contributions of three conferences held in Cagliari, focuses on three specific areas: accounting as a form of control and rationalisation of reality; the regulatory framework and the functioning of justice for businesses and the world of work; and the legal framework consisting of manuals, rules and instruments prepared for the professions and trades.