2009
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Marco Gentile, « Casato e fazione nella Lombardia del Quattrocento: il caso di Parma », Publications de l'École Française de Rome (documents), ID : 10670/1.5t5p1h
The presence of highly structured factions is a key-feature of lombard political society throughout the later Middle Ages until well into the Cinquecento. This essay explores the nature of factional groups in 15th century Parma, where they operate as a means of political action at informal but also at institutional level. Far from being loose networks kept together by the temporary interests of individuals, factions appear to be built around the political traditions of urban lineages and the long-term patronage ties which connected them to the four major families of the local landed nobility. Parma's case study provides useful insights into relevant issues : the relations between kinship and factional membership, the political cohesion of the lineage, the influence of structural factors on the political choices of the individual, the interrelations between feud and faction.