Riccardo Fubini and the “Good Old Historical School”

Abstract

Moving from an analysis of Riccardo Fubini’s 1996 introduction to a famous 1912 study by Giovanni Battista Picotti on the 1459 Diet of Mantua, the paper analyses some traits of Fubini’s historiography, emphasising its correspondence and empathy with the ‘good old historical school’. With reference to some of the themes of Fubini’s historical research – such as the novelty of the emergence of the Italian territorial states between the 14^th and 15^th centuries and their bold assertions of sovereignty – it is shown how the “instance of a systematic approach” and the depth of the “archival exploration” were indeed distinctive traits of Fubini’s idea of the métier d’historien. In the light of categories such as that of "Machiavellianism before Machiavelli" or the opposition between the concepts of ius and virtus, Fubini’s reflections on the language and political culture of the great season of 15th century political humanism are also examined. Finally, some of Fubini’s reflections on the political and diplomatic history of 15^th-century Italy are analysed too: from the distinction between the Italic League (understood as a federative project) and the politics of balance (based on distrust between the different players), to the so-called age of conspiracies, to the events of Sforza-Medicean relations.