Prudens miles et sapiens: Family assets, ecclesiastical structures and military aristocracy in the Middle Ages

The examination of an inheritance case testimonies, prepared before the bishop of Brescia at the end of the twelfth century, offers an analysis of Lombard aristocracy functioning and its mechanisms. The documents deal, in particular, with a woman’s personal vicissitudes, domina Precia. Her story highlights the relationship within a family of milites, family ties, the decisions for power, the plots to preserve the family estate in agnatic line, the relationship with ecclesiastical and civil institutions and even local mobility towards Rome and Costantinople. The language of the documents, the expressions used, the harshness of feelings such as the indication of the places give life to this intricate controversy.