Geography of Romandiola’s Chronicles: Common Foundations and Singularities of the Historiography in the Pontifical Romagna during the Late Middle Ages

Abstract

This study analyses the Historiography development in the land of Romandiola since its constitution as an ecclesiastical province in 1278 until its division in two different regions. The chronicles of this period present both the medieval annalistic tradition (concision and accuracy) and the narrative of the emerging Italian Humanism (detail and interpretation). The authors’ will to produce a critical discourse from notarial documents is also noticeable, as they are mainly notaries from different towns trained in the booming Bolonia Studium. A few towns show singularities in the development of their local History compared to the rest of the Romandiola: in Ravenna its formed through the episcopal chronologies and in Rimini by focusing on the biographies of the increasingly powerful nobility (Malatesta). The purposes of this research are to find the general characteristics and local singularities in these chronicles, also looking for original elements and influences, and finally to offer an organized catalogue with its sources and a typology that eases its study.

Keywords

• historiografía medieval
• crónicas
• humanismo
• romandiola
• romaña
• bolonia
• rimini
• malatesta
• ravenna.