À l'époque moderne, l'État vénitien – composé d'une ville (la Dominante), des domaines de Terre ferme et de possessions maritimes – se présente comme une réalité complexe dans laquelle coexistent des ...cultures, mais surtout des systèmes juridiques profondément différents. Cet article analyse un type particulier de suppliques, fréquemment utilisé par les sujets et destiné à suspendre le procès et à obtenir son transfert (delegazione) à une autre cour locale ou vénitienne. Les principes et les modalités qui inspirent le recours à ces suppliques sont abordés à partir des catégories interprétatives de l'État juridictionnel pré-moderne, grâce auxquelles peut être proposée une lecture du système juridique vénitien en cohérence avec celui des autres États européens. Au sujet, qui a des motifs de croire que le jugement d'un procès sera contaminé par l'inégalité de position et de ressources des parties, est concédé le droit de supplier à la Seigneurie la grâce de déléguer la cause à une autre cour. La procédure pour la concession de cette grâce, qui est un acte politique, repose sur l'examen contradictoire des parties et débouche sur un jugement. Bien que dans le cours du procès soient maintenues des garanties analogues à celles de la procédure civile et criminelle ordinaire, cette nature mixte de la délégation fait que le jugement ne peut pas seulement se conformer à de rigides normes juridiques, mais est un acte discrétionnaire de la part de juges patriciens qui appliquent une lecture politique du contexte de l'affaire. De ce fait, la supplique, pour être persuasive, doit proposer une version « politique » des faits, en lieu et place de la vérité légale. Cette procédure induit aussi une négociation car les parties jouissent d'une forte autonomie dans la gestion du conflit et, parfois, l'objectif n'est pas tant une décision judiciaire que la création de conditions plus favorables à la pratique d'un contradictoire extrajudiciaire non violent. Ce caractère négocié de la procédure a facilité sa large diffusion ; en retour, cette sortie volontaire des réseaux locaux a créé les conditions d'une contamination culturelle des systèmes juridiques, dans laquelle on peut voir l'embryon d'un lexique commun entre les divers sous-systèmes qui composent l'État vénitien.
In the early modern period, the Venetian state-consisting of the city, the western regions of the Terraferma, and the coastal territories in the Mediterranean-was a complex entity, in which different ...cultures and juridical systems coexisted. This article analyzes a frequently used type of petition, designed to adjourn a trial and delegate proceedings to another court in Venice itself or outside of the city. Reading the procedures and guiding principles of this delegation or delegazione according to the interpretative categories of the premodern jurisdictional state opens up new interpretations of the Venetian legal system, which subsequently appears more consistent with the law of other European countries. A subject who feared that the outcome of a trial would be compromised by differences in position or resources between the parties had the right to petition the Signoria to have it delegated to another court. The procedure for granting this favor or grace-which should be considered as a political act-was based on a cross-examination of both parties resulting in a judgment.
À l’époque moderne, l’État vénitien – composé d’une ville (la Dominante), des domaines de Terre ferme et de possessions maritimes – se présente comme une réalité complexe dans laquelle coexistent des ...cultures, mais surtout des systèmes juridiques profondément différents. Cet article analyse un type particulier de suppliques, fréquemment utilisé par les sujets et destiné à suspendre le procès et à obtenir son transfert (delegazione) à une autre cour locale ou vénitienne. Les principes et les modalités qui inspirent le recours à ces suppliques sont abordés à partir des catégories interprétatives de l’État juridictionnel pré-moderne, grâce auxquelles peut être proposée une lecture du système juridique vénitien en cohérence avec celui des autres États européens. Au sujet, qui a des motifs de croire que le jugement d’un procès sera contaminé par l’inégalité de position et de ressources des parties, est concédé le droit de supplier à la Seigneurie la grâce de déléguer la cause à une autre cour. La procédure pour la concession de cette grâce, qui est un acte politique, repose sur l’examen contradictoire des parties et débouche sur un jugement. Bien que dans le cours du procès soient maintenues des garanties analogues à celles de la procédure civile et criminelle ordinaire, cette nature mixte de la délégation fait que le jugement ne peut pas seulement se conformer à de rigides normes juridiques, mais est un acte discrétionnaire de la part de juges patriciens qui appliquent une lecture politique du contexte de l’affaire. De ce fait, la supplique, pour être persuasive, doit proposer une version « politique » des faits, en lieu et place de la vérité légale. Cette procédure induit aussi une négociation car les parties jouissent d’une forte autonomie dans la gestion du conflit et, parfois, l’objectif n’est pas tant une décision judiciaire que la création de conditions plus favorables à la pratique d’un contradictoire extrajudiciaire non violent. Ce caractère négocié de la procédure a facilité sa large diffusion; en retour, cette sortie volontaire des réseaux locaux a créé les conditions d’une contamination culturelle des systèmes juridiques, dans laquelle on peut voir l’embryon d’un lexique commun entre les divers sous-systèmes qui composent l’État vénitien.
Nel 1638 la nobildonna veneziana Donata Tiepolo impugna, insieme alle figlie, due donazioni, sua e della suocera, e il testamento del marito Domenico Trevisan, finalizzati alla perpetuazione della ...memoria della casa dei Trevisan attraverso la costituzione di una primogenitura e un grandioso monumento funebre, e motiva l'azione col fatto che le prime non si erano realizzate liberamente mentre il secondo ledeva il legittimo diritto delle figlie a un'equa distribuzione dell'eredità e alla dote. Otterranno giustizia. Il caso, anomalo nei suoi esiti e per lo strumento giuridico utilizzato, mette a nudo logiche pubbliche e private e brutali condotte poste in atto nella Venezia del primo Seicento dal corpo ottimatizio per garantire la propria autoconservazione, evidenziando le formée mentis che condizionano scelte e comportamenti femminili. L'utilizzazione di una inedita tipologia documentaria porta a riconsiderare le maggiori indipendenza e protagonismo femminile tradizionalmente riconosciuti dalla storiografia alla società veneziana rispetto ad altre realtà, rivelando proprio come questa autonomia possa convertirsi per le donne in un elemento di intrinseca debolezza nella famiglia e in fonte di latenti conflitti intergenerazionali. In the year 1638 the Venetian noblewoman Donata Tiepolo, together with her daughters, lodged an appeal against two donations, her mother-in-law's and her own one, as well as against her late husband's, Domenico Trevisan, will. In Domenico's plans, such legacies were meant to perpetuate the ever-lasting memory of his household via the institution of a primogeniture right and the building of a magnificent memorial. Opposite to such view, Donata took legal action because such legacies has been extorted and her late husband's will was against her daughters' right for a fair share of their father's inheritance and of their marital dowries. Against all predictions, they succeeded. This case-study, anomalous in its outcome and in the legal battle engaged (thank to the tool of the so-called «protesto segreto») shows private and public strategies, brutal action and perverted logics acted by the patriciate in order to guarantee its perpetuation in the first decades of the seventeenth century. But it also shows the mentality that stood behind women's choices and behaviours. Besides an unusual documentary series, uncovered in Venice State Archives, allows challenging some historical categories regarding well-assessed common places such as Venetian women's independence and their agency towards men in general, when compared to other societies and places. In this case, it is patent that such autonomy (and its legal tools) turned into an element of inner fragility within the family, let alone a permanent source of potential conflict between generations.
ABSTRACT IN ITALIAN: Nel 1638 la nobildonna veneziana Donata Tiepolo impugna, insieme alle figlie, due donazioni, sua e della suocera, e il testamento del marito Domenico Trevisan, finalizzati alla ...perpetuazione della memoria della casa dei Trevisan attraverso la costituzione di una primogenitura e un grandioso monumento funebre, e motiva l'azione col fatto che le prime non si erano realizzate liberamente mentre il secondo ledeva il legiuimo diritto delle figlie a un'equn distribuzione dell'eredità e alla dote. Otterranno giustizia. Il caso, anomalo nei suoi esiti e per lo strumento ginridico utilizzato, mette a nudo logiche pubbliche e private e brutali condotte poste in atto nella Venezia del primo Seicento dal corpo ottimatizio per garantire la propria autoconservazione, evidenziando le forma mentis che condizionano scelte e comportamenti femminili. L'utilizzazione di una inedita tipologia documentaria porta a riconsiderate le maggioti indipendenza e protagonismo femminile tradizionalmente riconosciuti dalla storiografia alla società veneziana rispetto ad altre realtà, rivelando proprio come questa autonomia possa convertirsi per le donne in un elemento di intrinseca debolezza nella famiglia e in fonte di latenti conflitti intergenerazionali. L09 // ABSTRACT IN ENGLISH: In the year 1638 the Venetian noblewoman Donata Tiepolo, together with her daughters, lodged an appeal against two donations, her mother in-law's and her own one, as well as against her late husband's, Domenico Trevisan, will. In Domenico's plans, such legacies were meant to perpetuate the ever lasting memory of his household via the institution of a primogeniture right and the building of a magnificent memorial. Opposite to such view, Donata took legal action because such legacies has been extorted and her late husband's will was against her daughters' right for a fair share of their father's inheritance and of their marital dowries. Against all predictions, they succeeded. This case-study, anomalous in its outcome and in the legal battle engaged (thank to the tool of the so-called protesto segreto) shows private and public strategies, brutal action and perverted logics acted by the patriciate in order to guarantee its perpetuation in the first decades of the seventeenth century. But it also shows the mentality that stood behind women's choices and behaviours. Besides an unusual documentary series, uncovered in Venice State Archives, allows challenging some historical categories regarding well-assessed common places such as Venetian women's independence and their agency towards men in general, when compared to other societies and places. In this case, it is patent that such autonomy (and its legal tools) turned into an element of inner fragility within the family, let alone a permanent source of potential conflict between generations.
In the year 1638 the Venetian noblewoman Donata Tiepolo, together with herdaughters, lodged an appeal against two donations, her mother-in-law's and her ownone, as well as against her late husband's, ...Domenico Trevisan, will. In Domenico'splans, such legacies were meant to perpetuate the ever-lasting memory of his householdvia the institution of a primogeniture right and the building of a magnificentmemorial. Opposite to such view, Donata took legal action because such legacieshas been extorted and her late husband's will was against her daughters' right fora fair share of their father's inheritance and of their marital dowries. Against allpredictions, they succeeded. This case-study, anomalous in its outcome and in thelegal battle engaged (thank to the tool of the so-called «protesto segreto») showsprivate and public strategies, brutal action and perverted logics acted by the patriciatein order to guarantee its perpetuation in the first decades of the seventeenthcentury. But it also shows the mentality that stood behind women's choicesand behaviours. Besides an unusual documentary series, uncovered in Venice StateArchives, allows challenging some historical categories regarding well-assessed commonplaces such as Venetian women's independence and their agency towards menin general, when compared to other societies and places. In this case, it is patentthat such autonomy (and its legal tools) turned into an element of inner fragilitywithin the family, let alone a permanent source of potential conflict between generations.
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