Lee Morrison

I am a Ph.D. student in the department of history, focusing on the social and economic history of northern Italy in the late Middle Ages.

I am currently researching the landholding strategies of monasteries in and around the city of Genoa over the mid-twelfth to mid-fourteenth centuries.

My research explores the relationship between monasteries and their tenants by tracking the growth of neighborhoods, or burgi, on monastic land outside of the city walls. I am particularly interested in how document production tied monks and their tenants together, as tenants often functioned as witnesses, counselors, advocates, or procurators in notarial contracts involving the monastery.