Archives judiciaires et archives de la folie

The essay analyses the events relating to the construction of the psychiatric unit of the new city public hospital of Cagliari, in Sardinia, through the cross-examination of sources. The application of Savoy laws in Sardinia appears to be ephemeral for what concerns mental health. If, on the one hand, the law makes it compulsory for criminals to undergo a psychiatric assessment as well as for furious maniacs to be admitted to hospital, the care centers available in the island are, on the other hand, in such a state that the persons hospitalized for psychiatric illnesses run the risk of seeing their condition worsen rather than improve, leaving aside the fact that admission is often denied to them tout court. In 1854, when a patient, already wellknown to the Public Prosecutor’s Office and to the courthouse, escapes twice from the care center, the Home Office and public opinion became aware for the first time of the conditions in which psychiatric patients live in Sardinia. The result of such new consciousness is a process of reforms aimed at modifying the project for the new hospital, which dates back to 1844, and the institution of a special unit destined to become a psychiatric ward and which will be inaugurated as late as in 1859.Fruit d’une réflexion menée sur la base d’une analyse croisée de plusieurs fonds d’archives, le présent essai fait état des événements qui durant la première moitié du XIXe siècle présidèrent à la création d’un service spécifiquement destiné aux aliénés au sein des structures du Archives judiciaires et archives de la folie. Ou comment un repris de justice, en s’enfuy (...) nouvel hôpital civil construit à Cagliari, dans l’île de Sardaigne, finalement inauguré en 1859 au terme d’un cheminement administratif particulièrement tortueux. Longuement attendue, cette innovation importante rend effective l’application sur le territoire insulaire des lois en vigueur dans le reste du royaume de Piémont, une mesure restée largement inopérante dans le domaine de la santé mentale, particulièrement délaissé par les autorités locales. Alors que les dispositions officielles prônent l’expertise psychiatrique des criminels et le suivi des maniaques furieux, la déliquescence des structures insulaires ne permet pas l’accueil de tous les aliénés, qui se voient par ailleurs réservés des traitements déjà considérés comme anachroniques. En 1854, la fuite d’un patient révèle à l’opinion publique les conditions lamentables dans lesquelles les malades psychiatriques sont pris en charge en Sardaigne. Ce fait divers très local va contraindre les autorités à réagir au plus haut niveau, déterminant ainsi non seulement la modification du projet de construction du nouvel hôpital, mais bien une remise en question profonde de la gestion des aliénés dans toute l’île

Women writing about women. Mercede Mundula’s documents in the University Library of Cagliari

Il contributo presenta la figura e le carte della poetessa, saggista e scrittrice cagliaritana Mercede Mundula (1890-1947), donate dalle figlie alla Biblioteca Universitaria di Cagliari nel 1997. Si tratta di uno spezzone d’archivio, comprendente i materiali di lavoro, i manoscritti e i dattiloscritti, il carteggio relativo ai successi delle sue opere, i testi per le conferenze, le recensioni e una parte della letteratura critica postuma. I manoscritti e il carteggio sono stati censiti sul database Manus Online, i materiali a stampa no. L’elenco completo della documentazione è disponibile presso l’Istituto, ma il trattamento ‘non archivistico’ del fondo impedisce una completa contestualizzazione e una corretta lettura dei vincoli. Sarebbe auspicabile, in prospettiva della creazione di un sistema informativo integrato, procedere con una descrizione analitica del fondo, mantenendo però l’ordine dato dalla produttrice e dalle sue eredi.The essay presents the life and documents of the Cagliari-born poet, essayist and writer Mercede Mundula (1890-1947). The documents were donated by her daughters to the University Library of Cagliari in 1997. The archive includes the work materials, the manuscripts and typescripts, correspondence relating to the successes of her works, conference texts, reviews and some of the posthumous critical literature. The manuscripts and correspondence were registered on Manus Online database, the printed materials were not. The complete list of documents is available at the Library, but the ‘non-archival’ treatment of fonds prevents a complete contextualisation and correct reading of the archive. It would be desirable, in view of the creation of an integrated information system, to proceed with an analytical description of fonds, while maintaining the order given by the producer and her heirs

Gli antoniani della Val di Susa e le proprietà sul Piccolo Moncenisio (XIII-XV secolo)

This contribution provides a study of the Antonines of the General Preceptory of Ranverso, their activities in Val di Susa and their properties on the Piccolo Moncenisio between the 13th and the 15th century. The investigation was based on published studies (especially those by Italo Ruffino) and on documents and archival inventories examined in the light of new interpretations of the history of the Antonines in particular and of late medieval hospitals in general. Putting aside the theory of the canons of St Anthony as skilled nurses, the history of the hospital of Ranverso can be re‐interpreted as that of the centre of an agricultural enterprise whose possessions extended as far as the Moncenisio. From the study of the contemporary, but also later and indirect sources, it is clear that the management of unattended pastures was problematic and that the order was often unable to claim its property or grazing rights due to poor record keeping.Il presente contributo vuole offrire un aggiornamento sugli ospedalieri antoniani della precettoria generale di Ranverso, sulle loro attività in Val di Susa e sulle loro proprietà sul colle del Piccolo Moncenisio tra XIII e XV secolo. L’indagine si è basata sugli studi finora pubblicati (soprattutto quelli di Italo Ruffino), sui documenti e sugli inventari archivistici, esaminati alla luce delle nuove interpretazioni in materia di storia antoniana e di storia degli ospedali tardomedievali più in generale. Accantonata la teoria di antoniani quali esperti infermieri, è possibile rileggere la storia dell’ospedale di Ranverso come epicentro di un’azienda agricola che si estendeva fino al Moncenisio. L’esame delle fonti scritte, sia coeve che tarde e indirette, ha fatto emergere una problematica gestione dei pascoli non presidiati, e dimostrato che gli stessi antoniani non furono sempre in grado di rivendicare i loro diritti di proprietà o di pascolo a causa della dispersione dei documenti

I canonici ospedalieri di S. Antonio di Vienne e la Sardegna

The aim of the PhD research is that of reconstructing the documentary body relating to the presence and action of the hospitaller Order of St. Anthony of Vienne in Sardina (XIII-XVI centuries). Starting from the analysis of the state of the art of the studies on the history of the order and its presence in Sardinia, a first- hand research on the sources produced by the Antonines community and on other sources dating back to the same historical period has been carried out with the purpose of providing both a historical analysis and a critical edition of such documents. St. Anthony’s order, extremely powerful in the Late Middle Ages and widespread throughout Europe, collapsed in modern age to the extent that it was suppressed at the end of the XVIII century. Antonines were well known for their healing powers of a disease, the ‘St. Anthony’s fire’, identified during the XVIII-XIX centuries with ergotism (food poisoning), but actually related to all those illnesses of a gangrenous nature. The analysis of the existing literature on the subject has shown the long-standing difficulties encountered by Antonian historiography, due to the scattering of the sources of information and to the influence of popular myths surrounding the illness. For what concerns the activity of Antonines in Sardinia, the sources available to researchers were few in number and often suffered from a superficial and non in depth enough interpretation. In the past, indeed, the vacuum in the documentary body has led scholars to believe that their presence in Sardinia had been marginal and not well documented. A more recent investigation of unpublished documents has provided researchers with new sources which contribute to highlighting the real dimension of the Antonian presence in the island. The documents, in this regard, prove that the canons managed a number of properties, certainly in Cagliari, Oristano and Sassari, collecting donations and revenues to be sent to the headquarter in Dauphiné. Their presence, although discontinuous, is documented as much as the practice of certain activities which made them well known, from their begging to their pig farming. The new element emerging from the analysis is rather the fact that assisting ill Sardinians was never a priority for them. The body of documents collected and presented as an appendix to this research contributes to providing a fairly complete picture of this page of Sardinian history which had until now been left uncompleted and was not gravitating within the Iberian orbit as in the case of the rest of Middle Age and Modern eras. Through the comparison between different sources, this research shows how and to what extent Sardinian micro-history fits within the contest of European macro-history

Notai al servizio dell’Inquisizione spagnola in Sardegna nel XVI secolo = Notaries in the service of the Spanish Inquisition in Sardinia in the 16th century

Il contributo, ripercorrendo la storia dell’Inquisizione spagnola in Sardegna, offre una panoramica dei notai che hanno esercitato per il Tribunale, a Cagliari e a Sassari, nel corso del XVI secolo. Attraverso la ricognizione delle fonti e della bibliografia, si cerca di tratteggiare il profilo di alcuni di questi professionisti.The paper offers an overview of the notaries who practiced for Spanish Inquisition first in Cagliari and later in Sassari during the 16th Century. By analyzing documents and reviewing the bibliography available today, we try to outline the profile of some of them

Governare l’ospedale. Modelli, regolamenti e pratiche tra XII e XVII secolo = Governing the Hospital. Models, rules and practices between 12th and 17th centuries

The history of hospitals has always been marked by complex relations with institutions, and has gone through important moments of transformation, sometimes of rupture, but above all of reform. We are by no means dealing with a motionless and homogeneous entity, on the contrary: the hospital is an entity that varies, and for this reason it must be studied in a special way according to its geopolitical and, of course, chronological reality. Over the last few decades, European hospital history studies have undergone new and important developments, the steps forward of which are marked by major works, wide-ranging research projects and international conferences. The present issue of RiMe. Magazine of the Institute of Mediterranean European History hosts some of the contributions among those presented at the 11th Abrils de l'Hospital symposium, which took place in Cagliari on 6 and 7 June 2022 in the conference room of the current Hostel Marina, the former Sant'Antonio abate hospital, Scholars from different regions of Italy, Spain and Portugal, including a number of young PhD students and neo-PhDs, enriched the Abrils de l'Hospital panorama with original contributions, innovative research perspectives and new study projects

Tracce di ebraismo in Sardegna tra esodi e ritorni = Traces of Judaism in Sardinia between exoduses and returns

Sulla base degli studi compiuti negli ultimi decenni, il saggio propone una sintetica panoramica delle testimonianze sulla presenza ebraica in Sardegna dall’epoca romana alla Seconda guerra mondiale.Based on the studies carried out in recent decades, the essay offers a concise overview of the evidence on the Jewish presence in Sardinia from the Roman era to the Second World War

Archivi ospedalieri e fonti assistenziali nella Sardegna medievale e moderna

This paper illustrates the state of the art of research on the sources of assistance and Hospital Archives in Sardinia since 12th Century. The research shows that most of these Hospital Archives have not means of reference yet. Otherwise, the ancient Hospital of St. Anthony of Cagliari has two inventoried fonds, that are here comparated for the first tim