Abstract

This article traces a path in the Italian medieval historiography in the first half of the twentieth century in order to reveal some ways in which the religious dimension contributed to the reflection on the characteristic features of the Middle Ages. Among the problems treated are: municipal conflicts described in terms of conflicts between the State and the Church; heresy as a factor of modernization in Volpe's historiography; Ernesto Buonaiuti's role; the attempts made by Giorgio Falco and Raffaello Morghen to explain the Middle Ages in a coherent way.