Abstract
Letters written from Naples between April-May 1495 by nobles serving in the army of Charles VIII constitute a privileged source for analysing the role of news-conveying letters in shaping relationships within a social network. These letters bear witness, in both content and form, to a bond of “amicitia” based on the circulation of mutual services. Each epistolary document devises two approaches: an offer of information and a request for a favor. The transmission of news of the military situation as regards the troops or the health of acquaintances always implies a petition for a favor or a kindness. The disclosure of the information is then the compensation for the request. In anthropological terms, the letter is conceived, certainly, as a representation of the writer to his correspondents, but also as an instrument for strengthening a network of friendship within which social relationships are organized.
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