L'analisi politico-economica sull'Età di mezzo in epoca fascista : il caso paradigmatico di Gioacchino Volpe (1922-1943)

The most important studies on Middle Ages, published by Gioacchino Volpe date back to the years of the fascist goverment. Historiographic works such as "Medioevo Italiano" have influenced the present representation of historical events happened in Italy and Europe from the fifth to the fifteenth century but, to which degree does the reconstruction of the economic history of those centuries show traces of the economic policy adopted by Mussolini's government from 1922 to 1943? Is it right to see in Volpe's medieval works a political instrumentalization to justify the economic orientation of Fascist Italy? This scientific article shows that Volpe's conclusions are the results of his attentive research on unpublished sources and they are free from servility towards the holders of the power. [Publisher's text].