Identificare, registrare, riconoscere tra Medioevo e prima Età moderna. Alcune riflessioni su pratiche siciliane

Specific practices for the identification and the registration of people, not necessarily related to the State control of migration flows, were recorded in Sicily as well as in the rest of Europe in the Middle Ages and in the Early Modern Age. We should consider the need of individuals to establish their condition or to assure themselves certain rights and privileges through some form of registration providing recognition of identity. The matter extends then to other areas such as those of property, testimony, rights and law. Taking advantage of the considerable amount of archival records produced in Sicily in the aforementioned period, the present essay aims to focus on some of the identification practices thus suggesting possible paths of further research.