Literacy and administration in the Towns of Southern Italy

In this contribution we shall explore literacy and administration in three senses. First, a survey of the primary schools – those known to us – which were funded by the universitas, the local government of a town. Secondly, we shall see how, as part of the distribution of civic offices, there was in some towns a special place reserved for the so-called litterati (“lettered” persons, who could read and write to a high level). And thirdly, we shall observe how the processes of administration demanded at least a minimal level of literacy among a large number of the town’s male citizens and also how the production of administrative documents played a very significant role in the development of literacy among the population of a town. By way of conclusion, we will look at a technical skill practised by the tavolari, whose job it was to measure and estimate, which was essential for urban life