Comparing Two Italies. Civic Tradition, Trade Networks, Family Relationships between the Italy of Communes and the Kingdom of Sicily

The title of this volume recalls the famous 1977 book by David Abulafia, The Two Italies, about the origins of the so-called ‘unequal exchange’ and ‘dual economy’ between Northern and Southern Italy. These are supposed to have provided the ground for the so-called ‘Southern question’ (‘questione meridionale’), one of the foremost topics in the whole of Italian history. However, trade is not the only relevant theme in a comparison between the Italy of Communes and the Kingdom of Sicily. This collection of essays points to different interpretative paths, which concern not only trade networks, but also less well-known aspects of the interrelation, such as the rise of civic tradition, the spread of Mendicant Orders, and the circulation of wealth through family relationships, women, marriage and patrimonial assets.