Professor Andrea Gamberini (University of Milan, IASH Fellow): Work in Progress Seminar.
Population and urban space in a late medieval Italian city: the case of Reggio Emilia
Although Reggio is not among the prominent cities of late medieval Italy, it represents an extraordinary case-study, as it boasts as many as three poll tax registers (libri focorum) relating to 1315, 1409 and 1459. From a summary analysis of all these materials, I have been able to identify several themes, such as changes in population in the age of the Black Plague, grouping of families within the urban space, models of households, political bonds among lineages.
The paper aims at presenting these sources and their potentiality against the backdrop of the ongoing historiographical debate.