The label “border” can encompass a wide range of phenomena: geographical limits, political boundaries, areas under military control, and porous zones of interaction. This volume takes an interdisciplinary approach, viewing the border space as a place of contact and contrast, an area of both peaceful and violent exchange, of mobility of ideas and people, a structural element deployed by social actors to organise or adapt their own existence. The book examines the case of southern Italy (Mezzogiorno) between the 11th and 15th centuries, exploring the institutional history of land and sea border dynamics, and related commercial, political and social implications.

This book is included in DOAB.