Les propriétés urbaines du patriciat

Through the prism of urban properties, the book offers a new perspective on the Milanese patriciate, often presented monolithically as the social elite of the Duchy. The consistency of the heritages and the residential choices show indeed the heterogeneity of the social group and reflect the level of wealth of the families, their institutional implication and their social origins. The research associates the realization of a geographic information system based on the Teresian cadastre to documentation from family funds which informs about the constitution of urban heritages and their place in the family economy (investments made, management practices and transmission of goods). The dual nature of real estate (residence and rental properties) makes it obey a variety of logics that are not only representative and economic, but also social and political issues. It is finally the role of the patriciate in the fabric of the city which is envisaged and which evolved in the second half of the eighteenth century when Habsburg rulers sought to better control urbanism and that new residential logic led to the emergence of "beautiful neighborhoods" and the break-up of families.