Abstract

In this paper, three vernacular extracts are published from account books drawn up by Venetian merchants and bankers in the second half of the 13th century. The first two are taken from judgments rendered by the civil court of Petizion (established in 1244): they therefore constitute an early example of the probative value assigned to account books in the commercial law of medieval Venice and they will occupy an important place in the Venetian dossier of Chartae Vulgares Antiquiores research project. These extracts, which are among the oldest written texts from Venice, are provided with a historical and linguistic commentary.