Spiritual Kinship and the Phenomenon of Trust in the Sociological Studies of Guido Alfani
This article provides an overview of the research on cross kinship carried out under the direction of the historian and sociologist Guido Alfani. The author examines the concept of god-parenthood as a phenomenon of the spiritual-social network that shaped the urban economy in Italy. Despite the fact that the institution of reception has its origins in the pre-Christian period, its baptism seriously altered both spiritual and social relations in historical Europe. One of the consequences of the spread of godparenting has been the expansion of social trust between professional and class groups. Such a spiritual-social institution makes it possible to build a system of trusting relationships that help maintain a stable bond between different social strata, and is essentially a mechanism of social integration conducive to the development of commerce. Guido Alfani looks at different historical periods: the formation of Christianity, the schism of the churches, the Western Church in the Middle Ages, the Reformation, the Council of Trent, the New Age. In each period he describes different types of cross kinship, which depended on various social factors: church reforms, revolutions, and changes in social norms.