Prime osservazioni sull’amministrazione della giustizia penale a Ferrara nell’età di Borso

Abstract

This essay investigates the administration of criminal justice in Ferrara under Borso d’Este (1450–1471), focusing on the interplay between communal institutions and princely power. Using statutory legislation, the Malefizio registers, and scattered documentary fragments, it try to reconstruct judicial procedures, categories of crime, and sentencing practices despite severe archival losses.