Entre Plebs et Commune. Pratiques administratives de l’église paroissiale Sainte-Marie à Gemona du Frioul aux XIVe et XVe siècles

The essay examines the churchwardens’ accounts of the parish church of Santa Maria in Gemona del Friuli, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The series begins in 1327-1328 and is the oldest in Friuli. The analysis of the codicological and linguistic characters shows the progressive evolution of the quaterni towards an increasingly organized model, even if not devoid of adaptations. The quaterni were part of a larger set of administrative documents used by the churchwardens: inventories, rolls, baptismal registers. The overall analysis of the documentation makes it possible to understand some social and religious implications of the life of Gemona in the Middle Ages. The churchwardens were all laymen and officers of the commune, while the clerics were excluded from office. The church was considered as one of the fundamental elements of organization of community life. The documentation of the churchwardens was one of the expressions of the public administration.