- «Fiere vicende dell’età di mezzo»
- Edited by Paola Guglielmotti, Isabella Lazzarini
Nondimeno. Una nota sul linguaggio dell’eccezione e della circostanza nel Carteggio sforzesco
- Massimo Della Misericordia
- © 2021 Author(s) |
- CC BY 4.0
- DOI: 10.36253/978-88-5518-423-6.06
On the basis of the recent monograph by C. Ginzburg and G. Pedullà’s review, it is possible to identify the word nondimanco/nondimeno (nonetheless) as an important element in Renaissance political writing. However, it does not only appear in the work of Machiavelli or Guicciardini and in the more conscious reflections by the intellectuals, but also in the huge amount of letters that constitute the government correspondence of the time. In these kinds of pragmatic texts, referring to the state of Milan in the Sforza age, it recurs as a key word of a dilemma: the friction between law and transgression (or exception considered legitimate) and also between law and practice. On one hand, it expresses an assumption invested in value: the duke must honor his promises and the contents of the chapters agreed on with his subjects; custom demands respect; factional divisions must be overcome. At the same time it reveals the concern that this principle could be trampled upon, or instead the will, if not the need, to attenuate the more general rule. This conjunction thus summarized the requirement to nuance the law, to adapt it to circumstance, and to conciliate potentially conflicting rights or reasons. In short, it stands as an indicator of one of the main causes of open tensions in the late medieval state, debated by a long tradition of scholars ranging from O. Brunner to R. Fubini: the opposition between the authority of the prince, as arbiter of the exception requested from time to time from the same variety of concrete situations, and the legalistic culture of the territorial bodies, which, referring to law and custom, tempted to stem the “extraordinary” powers that the duke was attributing to himself.
- Keywords:
- Later Middle Ages; 20th-21st centuries; historiography; Carteggio sforzesco; political languages; prince legitimacy; exception.,
University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-4564-0277
Chapter Information
Chapter Title
Nondimeno. Una nota sul linguaggio dell’eccezione e della circostanza nel Carteggio sforzesco
Authors
Massimo Della Misericordia
Language
Italian
DOI
10.36253/978-88-5518-423-6.06
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2021
Copyright Information
© 2021 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Bibliographic Information
Book Title
«Fiere vicende dell’età di mezzo»
Book Subtitle
Studi per Gian Maria Varanini
Editors
Paola Guglielmotti, Isabella Lazzarini
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
344
Publication Year
2021
Copyright Information
© 2021 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/978-88-5518-423-6
ISBN Print
978-88-5518-422-9
eISBN (pdf)
978-88-5518-423-6
eISBN (xml)
978-88-5518-425-0
Series Title
Reti Medievali E-Book
Series ISSN
2704-6362
Series E-ISSN
2704-6079