Le libertà dei servi : reinterpretare il villanaggio meridionale

The Serfs’ Liberties. Reinterpreting Southern Italy Villeinage
This essay examines the conditions of Italian peasants in the South and Sicily (1050-1250). Historians have for some time maintained that the majority of peasants were Villeins deprived of freedom. The analysis of the obligations imposed by the lords, of social representation, and of the legislation of the Norman monarchy instead demonstrates how the notion of Serfdom obscures a much more complex reality. Peasant dependency appears to be characterized by multiple conditions, differing by region and in continuous evolution. Local communities, monarchical politics and the nobility elaborated complex representations of peasant dependence that cannot be adequately formulated under the labels of Serfdom or Servitude.