Medieval Milanese Notarial Culture and Uberto Decembrio’s Definition of a Republic (respublica)

Abstract

This research note argues that late-medieval notarial culture had an important influence on the genesis of humanist political thought. In particular, it shows that the definition of a “republic” (respublica) put forward by the Milanese notary and humanist Uberto Decembrio borrowed from legal ideas about corporations (universitates), which included respublicae. Combining Platonic ideas with echoes of learned legal texts and observations on the legal reality, Decembrio put forward a semi-idealized vision of his monarchical city-state.