Accounting and power in religious institutions: Verona’s Santa Maria della Scala monastery in the Middle Ages

Abstract

The relation between accounting and power in religious institutions has received little attention from accounting historians. The present article therefore studies the case of the Santa Maria della Scala monastery in Verona (Italy) during the Middle Ages to explore whether and how accounting might support the domination structure and facilitate power relations within the organisation. A documentary analysis of primary and secondary sources confirms that accounting played a key role in reinforcing both hierarchical and horizontal power relations among friars.