The social mobility of Arezzo economic operators after the Black Death: new data from the notarial registers of the Capitular Archives of Arezzo

Abstract

The link between economic change and social mobility is a classic research topic, but it does not lack potential for renewal: the economic and social consequences of the great plague pandemic of the mid 14th century can be studied by examining cases of social mobility in both an ascending and descending sense. The sources of Arezzo, consisting of both notarial registers and mercantile accounts, make it possible to closely follow the social paths of the economic operators of the Tuscan city: the second half of the 14th century was a period in which, alongside new poverty, new channels of social mobility also opened up, in particular the one that led a lot of merchants and manufacturers from Arezzo to establish relations with the commercial centre of Pisa. New sources from the notarial records of the Chapter Archives of Arezzo, now provide valuable additions to the existing research.