Comparing two Italies : civic tradition, trade networks, family relationships between the Italy of communes and the kingdom of Sicily / edited by Patrizia Mainoni, Nicola Lorenzo Barile

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