La memoria del paesaggio attraverso un strumento di misura e stima: i cabrei dell'Ordine Mauriziano - The memory of an agrarian landscape through a specific survey document: the "cabrei" of the Ordine Mauriziano

Abstract The lengthy heritage of the Ordine Mauriziano (Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus), a dynastic order centred on the House of Savoy, has always been based on donations and legacies, but also on the extensive use of the “commend”. In fact the commendatory regime allowed continuous increase in the land holdings, in the form of concessions to the knights for the entire length of their life as a sort of pension, a typical variation of the knights orders. The commends could be of “libera collazione”, meaning that the Duke (later the Sovereign) of Savoy could use this patrimony according to his wishes, or “patronates”, of private constitution, depending on the legacies of a specific member. The second type of commend thus represented a specific capital and land administration system used often by the Order. Concerning the commends, the Archives of the Ordine Mauriziano contain a specific font, titled Commende, including an extensive series of maps and land surveys (“cabrei”) which document the so called “minor” properties of the Order. Today, these properties have often disappeared or are indistinguishable. The Cabrei this represent an extraordinary source for the recomposition of the palimpsest of the lost rural and agricultural landscape.