Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The via Papalis in early cinquecento Rome: a contested space between Roman families and curials

2010; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 37; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1017/s0963926810000556

1469-8706

Valeria Cafà,

Medieval and Early Modern Justice

ABSTRACT: On the definitive return of the pope to Rome in 1420, following the so-called Avignonese captivity, the city underwent major modifications. The ‘romanam curiam sequentes’, the court and administration that followed the traditionally itinerant pope, settled in the city, leading to Rome's population doubling in the space of a few years. Furthermore, with the support of the pope, the members of the curia came to take possession of spaces, offices, roles and rituals that had previously been the reserve of the local Romans. This article considers the reaction of the community of the local nobility (here described summarily as Roman families) to the encroaching presence of the curia within the specific context of the development of the built form of the via Papalis. It is argued that the via Papalis, one of the most important and prestigious streets in Rome, became the theatre within which these two communities played out their conflict through the medium of built and ephemeral architecture.