Abstract

This paper proposes a new comprehensive analysis of the diplomas issued by the kings of Italy Hugh (926-946) and Lothar II (931-950). The study of the surviving original charters draws on the recent paradigm shift in the interpretation of the structures of early medieval «chanceries», the forms of issuing of royal diplomas and, more generally, the system of public documentation. On the one hand, diplomas are here reconsidered in their archival sequences, setting them free of the «monumentalization» imposed by modern serial editions. On the other, the different hands that drafted them are reexamined, as the scribes of documents of such great importance from the point of view of political and symbolic communication are not to be considered any longer as low-level functionaries working in rigidly structured «chancery offices». The paradigm shift allows to shed light on the complex and varied range of interactions that underpinned the issuing of a diploma: in some cases, the role of the royal court and the king’s closest collaborators is prevalent, in others, the initiative comes from the recipients; at times, the intervention of high-profile intermediaries, who were also responsible for the actual drafting of the documents, is crucial. The new framework thus allows for a better reconstruction of the political workings of the kingdom and of the concrete scope for royal political action, providing also new bases for comparison with the subsequent Ottonian rule.