I graffiti come fonte per la storia delle pratiche religiose medievali

The aim of the research is to collect and analyze the graffiti in the churches of Northern Italy up to 1300 in order to interpretate the phenomeno to earn more informations about the medieval pilgrimage and the medieval devotion.The main part of analysis is based on the classification of graffiti in categories and on the comparative analysis of typologies and material distribution. The results underline the predominance of figurative-geometric typology rather than the alphabetical, as confirmed by the low level of alphabetization which characterize this period, until the end of XIII century.The distributive analisys, in addition, evidences some typologies spreading on the 5 itineraries which can indicate the presence of a large circolation of people, such as in case of pilgrimages. On the other side, punctual concentrations show the presence of local devotion coexisting with pilgrimage, in the same site.From the graphic point of view, is possible to observe a wide expressive variety of graffiti, while, if we consider the spatial distribution, based on the graffiti collocation, it is also possible to understand how the medieval visitors approached the churches and its sacred areas.