‘ascendere a sommi gradi… cumular infinite ricchezze’/ ‘ascending to great heights…cumulating infinite riches’. Legal education and professional careers in the State of Milan (16th–18th century)

The proposed contribution aims to fill some historiographical gaps on the legal formation of the ‘power elite’ of the State of Milan in the Modern Age in light of the changing cultural and institutional context. The main focus of the research, which is part of broader research on the history of the University, is the relationship between the training of Milanese graduates in law at the Alma Ticinensis Universitas and the careers they pursued within the magistracies and judicial institutions at the territorial level. This is also in consideration of the role played by jurists in Lombard society (16th-18th centuries). Through a series of concrete cases of ruling families, an attempt will be made to answer specific questions, such as the value of the doctoratus obtained at the Studium Publicum of the State of Milan and the role of the social class for the conferment of certain public offices and the performance of specific professions.