Issues, Practices and Ideals of Politics in Mountain Communities, 1300-1500

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Homo selvadego (1464), Sacco, Italy

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Savage mountain men or political actors?

Which political ideals inspired mountain populations in the late Middle Ages? Who could take part in politics and how? What were the main themes at stake in the debates that formed collective, public life? How were the records of the communities debates and discussions produced and preserved?


Council register (1435), Cuorgnè, Italy, first folio

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The Alps in the Late Middle Ages

The European Research Council Starting Grant DEMALPS project (Democracies of the Alps. Issues, Practices and Ideals of Politics in Mountain Communities, 1300-1500) examines mountain areas in the late Middle Ages as the basis for new political experiences, inspired by original values and practices of self-government. The project focuses on the Western Alps of the 14 – 15th centuries, a vast territory (including regions that are now French, Italian and Swiss) that witnessed unprecedented political ferment and lively experimentation with political forms and institutions.


Council register (1435), Cuorgnè, Italy, cover

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A digitally native project

Thanks to a rich corpus of sources scattered across the archives of the subject communities, DemAlps will offer an exceptional insight into the political ideals of the inhabitants of the late medieval Western Alps, investigated with an interdisciplinary approach that combines medieval history, digital humanities, archival science and diplomatics. DemAlps is a ‘digital native’ project, conceived expressly with a view to group research, thanks to the development of an online platform for collecting, analysing and sharing data within the research team and with the greater scientific community.


DemAlps is an ERC Starting Grant Project lead by Marta Gravela and based out of the Università di Torino in Turin, Italy

The DemAlps Team

The DemAlps project is lead by the principal investigator Marta Gravela, at the Università di Torino, who has assembled a group of postdoctoral fellows, researchers, and PhD candidates, and invites external contributions (affiliate researchers) as well.

Upcoming events

Public talks, presentations and other events involving the DemAlps team. See all events past, present and future here.

Workshop: Making Decisions as a Community. Records of Deliberation and Political Cultures in the Late Medieval Alps

Workshop: Making Decisions as a Community. Records of Deliberation and Political Cultures in the Late Medieval Alps

A combined workshop of projects ERC Starting Grant 2022 DemAlps and PRIN 2022 Writing Communities, Jul 22-24, Aosta, Italy.

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Dissenso politico e dissenso religioso nelle Alpi occidentali alla fine del medioevo. Primi spunti dal progetto DemAlps

Dissenso politico e dissenso religioso nelle Alpi occidentali alla fine del medioevo. Primi spunti dal progetto DemAlps

Presentation of DemAlps project and database by Marta Gravela and Jean-Paul Rehr at Società di Studi Valdesi, Scuola estiva 2024 (Sep 3-5, 2024)

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Notte europea delle ricercatrici e dei ricercatori 2024

Notte europea delle ricercatrici e dei ricercatori 2024

Al suono della campana: partecipa all’assemblea di una communità alpina medievale!

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Gli statuti dell’Ossola medievale. Omaggio a Tullio Bertamini

Gli statuti dell’Ossola medievale. Omaggio a Tullio Bertamini

Convocati et Congregati: La construzione di un’identità comunitaria nel contesto alpino attraverso gli statuti con Marta Gravela e Massimo Della Misericordia

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Dopo la rivolta. Risoluzione dei conflitti anti-signorili nelle Alpi del tardo medioevo.

Dopo la rivolta. Risoluzione dei conflitti anti-signorili nelle Alpi del tardo medioevo.

Paper by Marta Gravela at the colloquium “El Final de las guerras. La política y la resolución de los conflictos bélicos en el Mediterráneo occidental (siglos XIV y XV)

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IMC Leeds Session 118: Communities Forming and Fracturing in Late Medieval France and Italy - A Comparative Approach to the Intersection and Conflict of Local Lay and Ecclesiastical Institutions

IMC Leeds Session 118: Communities Forming and Fracturing in Late Medieval France and Italy - A Comparative Approach to the Intersection and Conflict of Local Lay and Ecclesiastical Institutions

DemAlps Ideals and Pratices of Local Medieval Politics I: Papers by Ian Forrest, Marta Gravela, and Jean-Paul Rehr with respondent Samuel Cohn. Session sponsored by DemAlps.

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IMC Leeds Session 218: How do You Learn? People and Documentary Practices in the Late Medieval Italian Alps

IMC Leeds Session 218: How do You Learn? People and Documentary Practices in the Late Medieval Italian Alps

DemAlps Ideals and Pratices of Local Medieval Politics II: Papers by Riccardo Massa, Davide Morra, and Thommaso Vidal. Session sponsored by DemAlps.

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IMC Leeds Session 318: A Negotiated World - Local Communities and Ordinary Politics in Late Medieval Provence

IMC Leeds Session 318: A Negotiated World - Local Communities and Ordinary Politics in Late Medieval Provence

DemAlps Ideals and Pratices of Local Medieval Politics III: Papers by Claire Allen, Clément Carnielli, and Patrick Hegarty-Morrish. Session sponsored by DemAlps.

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