Il valore delle cose. Nuovi dati e vecchi interrogativi sugli strumenti di scambio nella Toscana marchionale (secoli IX-XI)

At the beginning of the 11th century and up to the third quarter of the 12th century, in land sales drawn up in Lucca and Pisa the price is said to be paid not with coins, but with non-monetary objects: usually gold and silver mobilia, produced and exchanged at the urban royal curtes. In the lexicon of charters, they serve as meritum. In other documentary types, especially in donations, this tool sits alongside the launegild, a compulsory counter gift required by Lombard law. Some forty years after the last in-depth analyses, I propose to reopen the debate on the subject. The meritum is a practice that lies at the heart of the political body coordinated by the marquis in Tuscany and is a vivid reflection of the value universe of his court.