By combining the elements of the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the homogeneous series of the pawn registers of the Monti di Pietà preserved in various archives of Le Marche, this essay proposes a new methodology to widen the scope of the investigation on the theme of late medieval and early modern popular devotions. The records of the Monti di Pietà, Franciscan charitable institutions which proliferated in Italy during the late fifteenth and especially the sixteenth century, show that people in financial difficulties regularly brought in their rosaries or little crosses as security for low interest and even interest-free loans. These records attest to the overall low value of many objects, which were often made of coarse materials, and appeared in a poor state of conservation, but also reveal the tendency to pawn these humble devotional items, over and over again, in order to generate funds to live on.
Keywords: Monti di Pietà, Marche, pawns, devotional objects, devotional practices
Mutual Relief in Salerno during the XVIII century: the confraternities of crafts. First notes on work, assistance and socio-professional control, by Silvana Sciarrotta
The main tasks of working guilds were to protect their members, to set the rules for manufacturing raw materials, and to sell finished goods. Along with this essentially manufacturing and trading function, guilds were also in charge of healthcare and mutual assistance services for their members and their families. The peculiarities of these general aspects will be examined as regards, specifically, the tailors’ and shoemakers’ guilds operating in the city of Salerno in the 18th century. This paper will illustrate their respective working crafts, the regulations existing at the time for both the material and the spiritual support of their fellow members, and their financial investments.
Keywords: crafts, Guilds, Mutual assistance, Salerno
Protecting the Beauty: juridical models and cultural basis at the origins of protectionist movement for the cultural asset (1880 – 1914), by Andrea Ragusa
The emerging protectionist sensibility with regard to the artistic and historical beauties, was one of the fundamental elements of the modern and territorial state-building process. It corresponded to the large phase of historicization characterizing the access into modern age. On the other hand, the emergence of the bourgeoise in the XIX° century Europe, represented a moment of reorganization of the social structure and of the elites. The translation into the juridical system was one of the clearest aspects of this transformation. Through a comparative approach, using the material conserved by the UNESCO referred to different juridical systems in the world, the essay proposes an interpretation of the nation building process from the perspective of a very relevant and interesting keyword.
Keywords: State; Nation; Asset; Modernity; Legislation
Voluntary Action in Greece during the Balkan Wars: The Case of the Garibaldini in Ioannina in 1913, by Nicos Anastasopoulos
The Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913 contributed decisively to the national, cultural and social transformation of the Balkan area. As regards Greece, the Balkan Wars were clearly an attempt at territorial unification. It was this process that offered the people of Epirus the chance to achieve their expectations regarding liberation. With this in mind, we look at the actions of the Garibaldi corps during the attempt to liberate Ioannina in 1912 – 1913. Of vital importance here are the eye-witness accounts of the war and the diaries concerning the Garibaldi corps held in the Army History directorate. The participation of the Garibaldi corps in the efforts to absorb Ioannina into Greek territory, rather than being merely a matter of historical narrative, also possesses a manifold symbolism. In this political and military context, the Greek army received help mostly from philhellene Italians.
Keywords: Greece, Garibaldi, Ioannina, Philellenism, volunteers.
Helping refugees. Public assistance and private solidarity in the Italian provinces after Caporetto, by Filiberto Agostini
Based on a large volume of unpublished documentation which can be found in the Luigi Luzzatti Historical Archive in Venice, this article analyzes the refugee phenomenon after Caporetto. In smaller and larger centers throughout the entire peninsula, the sudden arrival of thousands of people forced institutions, law enforcement and local administrations to make an extraordinary effort to provide immediate assistance in difficult circumstances. In its initial phases, this led to the spontaneous creation of numerous committees that were aimed at offering hospitality, and material and moral support. This was followed by the elaboration of an organic and centralized assistance plan which led to church centers – which absorbed the numerous early committees – becoming pivotal in the move from improvised aid and assistance to uniformity in these services throughout the country. The problems that afflicted most refugees were not only attributable to material deprivation, but also resulted from the often-conflicting relationships with local authorities and people.
Keywords: Caporetto, refugee, assistance, Italian province
The purge of the fascist professors. The case of the Economists, by Daniela Giaconi
The aim of this article is to propose a first reasoned overview of the results of a new study of archive’s documents of the National Purge commission of Universities Professors (in Italian: commissione Nazionale di Epurazione del Personale Universitario) deposited at the central State Archive in Rome. It is focused on the whole segment of economists which, up till now, has been considered only for some aspects linked to personal stories of the single scientists. This new research serves to demonstrate that in the personal files of the thirty-eight economists analysed, beyond the individual trial pathways, there is a common thread in their strategy of defence that makes them indistinguishable from their colleagues of the other subjects. In concrete terms, inside the purge of economists exist several situations, similar to those of the branches of knowledge under trial; they repeat acts of defence that are apart from their expert knowledge and their proper and specialized terms well fit together with the conceptual framework delineating purge as a rite-of-passage to the new Republic, but without hangover for their careers.
Keyword: purge, fall of fascism, transitional justice, universities, university professors, economics education
From the rebel pentagram to the obedient one. The transformation of pop music during the Seventies, by Francesco Catastini
These are the first notes of a new research regarding the pop music as one of transverse elements of the youth movements during the Seventies. In this article the author observes this phenomenon from the permission years until the crisis of the “marriage” between music and movements. The main hypothesis is that the transformation of the industry, and so the music industry too, changed the relationship between public, musicians and music companies. During the Sixties and the Seventies, the growth of the music market was, if not unexpected, so strong that investors and companies started to consider music as only another entertainment product. The approach of talent scouts and producers changed they adopted the philosophy of market-oriented strategies. In such approach music was only one element among the others: exterior look, having faces that the camera would love, being a showman more than a musician…
Keywords: pop-music, social movements, engagement, progressive rock, punk rock
“Public History is Not A One-Way Street”, or, From A Shared Authority to the City of Mosaics, and Back, by Michael Frisch
Beginning with anecdotal reflections on his public history experience as a Fulbright Professor at Ca’ Foscari in Venezia, the author notes how public history internationally has been oriented around an implicit “Academic /Public dichotomy” a “one way street” in which historians, a “we”, engage the public, viewed as a “them.” The author contrasts this with public history as an inclusive, participatory conversation about history’s place in the present, and about what matters in understanding and leveraging the past. He illustrates this dialogic approach through a look back at his 1990 work, A Shared Authority, based on a wide range of public and oral historical engagements. He then addresses more recent “digital turn” developments, seeing a similar capacity emerging through oral and public history indexing tools that make possible a broadly participatory open “kitchen” between “raw” collections and “cooked” exhibits. He concludes with reflections on PixStori, a multimedia app he has been developing, combining photo-prompts and shortform audio responses. This and similar modes suggest how larger community portraits might emerge from compilations of small, easily made multi-media “tiles.” He calls this approach “mosaic oral and public history,” an appropriate notion to advance in Ravenna, the premier world-heritage site for byzantine mosaics!
Keywords: Public History, shared authority, digital turn, Indexing, photography, photo elicitation, documentary
