Territories, Privileges, Fiefdoms

Abstract

The essay analyses and discusses three categories of Rosario Villari’s historical discourse. The territory as a spatial configuration marked by the agricultural identity that Villari affects in its structural data (distribution of land ownership, peasant struggles, taxation). The privileges (of citizenship, forum, class...) which form the basis of a continuous negotiation between the Neapolitans and the Spanish monarchy. Finally, the fiefdoms, which the nobility tries to protect to their advantage both as an economic and political resource.