Migrantes y emigrantes en Vercelli entre los siglos XIII y XV: perfiles de reglamentación jurídica

Abstract

Due to its favourable geographical position, during the High and the Late Middle Ages the city of Vercelli was settled by some important migration flows: a phenomenon that confronted the local authorities with some unavoidable exigences of legal regulation. In order to comprehend their ratio, this essay aims to examine the prescriptions about the outlanders’ legal status, the immigrants’ naturalization and the crime of arbitrary emigration dictated by some norms contained in the city statutes of Vercelli promulgated in 1241 and in 1341. Moreover, the practical implementation of the above-mentioned prescriptions will also be explored, by analysing further documentary sources, such as the Ordinati of the Consilium de Credencia of the Commune of Vercelli and a record of criminal judgements delivered in 1359 by Giovannolo de Pirovano, podestà of Vercelli.

Keywords

• migrations
• foreign people
• naturalization
• citizenship
• medieval italian city statutes.