Abstract

From the 1430s, the «Studium Urbis» was funded from revenue collected from the «gabella», a tax imposed on the sale of non-local wine in Roman hostelries. In the collection of registers reporting the income and expenditure of the so-called «gabella Studii», held by the «Camera Urbis» and preserved in the State Archives in Rome, only five (relating to the Papacies of Sixtus IV and Alexander VI) provide an analytical breakdown of the costs borne by the commune to run the city’s university. Resources were to a very large degree channelled into professors’ salaries. This paper analyses the contents and features of this source, not only to shed light on the teaching staff during the late 1400s, which has been covered by historical research into the University di Rome so far, but mainly to reconstruct the workings of the Commune’s financial management of the «Studium». On a general level, an analysis of this type may prove useful when addressing themes of general interest, and also from a comparative viewpoint. One such theme could be municipal finances used in the management of Studia founded by Communes, which in these years held positions in governing bodies at varying levels. In this respect, it must not be overlooked that in Rome the «Camera Urbis», during the consolidation of the papal monarchy, had virtually no autonomy with regard the Apostolic Chamber.