In artibus cunctis industres. Congiuntura economica e dinamiche sociali a Pavia nella seconda metà del XIII secolo

This work concerns a research about Pavia, an important centre in the north-west of Italy, and focuses mainly on economic aspects and social relations as well as on their impact on communal institutions. This allowed to highlight the dynamics and strategies through which society was changing, adapting its institution and economic policy to face up to the new economic climate. Indeed, the period considered in the research, the second half of the XIII century, has been interpreted by the historiography about Italian city-states, as a time of deep change or "crisis" that led to profound transformations in the city’s government and in economic and social relations. In light of the current revision of the problem, this work suggests a survey on the city of Pavia, examined from multiple points of view on the basis of a broad investigation, mostly on unpublished documents, in order to reconsider and update the available bibliography. Faced with a difficult political and economic situation, the city tried to respond to it by intensifying the exploitation of the resources of its contado, structuring its production profile and defending its commercial spaces, in a social context still open and dynamic. The analysis took into account developments in urban economy, especially in the key sectors of agricultural production, industry and commerce, within wider transformations that invested cities and their surrounding countryside in Northern Italy in the same period, to check how political tensions and economic trend influenced society causing a closure in the long period.