Senza memoria? La conservazione delle scritture comunitarie nel Milanese (secoli XIV-XV)

at the end of the Middle ages only few of the hundreds of villages that composed the Milanese countryside had their own archives. Local notaries – and not the communities – preserved all public documents which were important for collective life. The essay examines this peculiar situation, arguing for a close connection between record-keeping practices and socio-political balance in the region. Keywords: archivi, comunità rurali, notai, Ducato di Milano; archives, rural communities, notaries, Duchy of Mila