The Good Men of the Duchy of Burgundy. Some reflections on the boni homines/boni viri mentioned in the sources of the ninth to thirteenth centuries

This article deals with the subject of medieval boni homines or boni viri. Departing from the analysis of Burgundian sources, it studies the meaning of said term, concentrating particularly on estimators, evaluators and judicial advisors. By examining the semantic context of the term and by analysing its social significance, this paper first asks if the expression boni homines/ viri could have denoted a specific group of people or a specific social function. It then turns to explain how the term can be fundamentally understood as a denotation of trustworthiness and knowledgeability in a judicial context. And it finally asks what implications do this perspective might have in the comprehension of the meaning and history of the term in a large spatial and chronological frame.