Searching for the History of "Ordinary Knowledge" and Urban Society in the Archives

Chair:

• prof.ssa Rosa Salzberg, Università di Trento

Respondent:

• prof. Andrea Brighenti, Università di Trento

Speaker:

• prof.ssa Claire Judde De Larivière, University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès

At the beginning of the 16th century, Venice was one of the most densely populated cities in the Mediterranean. Its inhabitants were either born in the lagoon or had come from neighbouring Veneto, Dalmatia or Greece to work there. They were merchants, craftsmen and servants who animated the city's economy, while patricians governed the institutions of the Serenissima. Starting  with court documents and the words spoken by witnesses, we can rediscover the practices and norms developed collectively and handed down from generation to generation, to investigate an ordinary, specific and situated knowledge that helped shape this singular social universe known as Venice. A discussion of the book L’Ordinaire des savoirs. Une histoire pragmatique de la société vénitienne (XVe-XVIe siècle), de Claire Judde de Larivière, Editions de l’EHESS, 2023