Law and politics of secrecy in the communal world The case of Montpellier in the 13th and 14th centuries

The customs of Montpellier (1204) contain an article that guarantees notaries protection of their information, in the face of the powers, by placing them under the seal of secrecy. Following a sociological perspective traced by G. Simmel, the article shows that secrecy constitutes a principle favoring a contractualization of social links, before becoming a tool in the exercise of city government.