University and urban society. A prosopographical database of the Paduan “Studium” in the Middle Ages (1222-1405)

This article presents and discusses the work and the methodological issues of the project PADU-A (Prosopographical-Access-Database of University-Agenda. Towards a database of students and professors of the first two centuries of the university). The project consists in the realization and exploitation of a prosopographical database, with the aim of producing an advancement in the knowledge of academic population that animated the university of Padua in the years 1222-1405. After having recalled briefly the history of this important Studium, the article firstly presents critically the available sources and the challenges they pose to the researcher and to the realization of a database. Secondly, it illustrates the structure and functioning of the database in connection with the sources’ features. Finally, it presents some research possibilities based upon the data collected and their analysis, with the appropriate methodological approach and precautions.