Friday, February 15, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
The pictures here are of two of the landmarks of Florence, the Palazzo Vecchio, seat of Florentine government, and the bell tower of Giotto. The building spree of the period leading up to the plague is, according to King, a major accomplishment of the Republican governments that held sway during the period of the Secondo popolo, before oligarchic forces began to take over. What is interesting about this period is the way in which people in the center of the social pyramid united to place limits on the power of the magnati, the Great Ones. The speech of Gianno della Bello which appears in Bruni's history is, like all speechmaking in histories of the period, the creation of the historian, but it also reflects the difficulties that led to the revolt of the popolo against the nobility. 
Think of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and you'll have a picture of urban violence that stems not from the lower classes, but the upper classes. The prickly skyscapes of private residences with towers, like the picture of San Gimignano facing page 1 of your textbook, were a reflection of the power of a few upper-class families. In Florence, part of the anti-Magnate legislation of the 1290's led to the knocking down of all towers with the exception of the Palazzo Vecchio, demonstrating the public monopoly on violence. The Gonfalonieri della giustizia, the "standard-bearer of justice" (p. 28), was the commander-in-chief of the guild-based militias, designed to keep the peace and defend against the brawling nobility. Once the secondo popolo was established, this post became the head of the government.
The guilds in Florence were, as King tells us, the basis for participation in the government; indeed, the structure of guild administration was reflected in the structure of the Republic. A guild, or corporation, is an entity that is rooted entirely in the medieval period. Also called a universitas (sound familiar?), a guild creates out of its many members one body, or corpus. All members participate, giving authority for administration to representatives. In Florence, the Republic itself had a priorate, a panel of elected members, and a chief executive, the gonfalonieri. The distinction between the major guilds and the minor guilds is important in this context because it reflects the levels of participation that were allotted according to membership in guilds of a particular rank. In 1378, the lowest order of laborers, the Ciompi, made its bid for participation by attempting to form guilds, thus empowering some of the working class. Their revolt led to the ushering in of a priorate and gonfalonieri from their ranks.
Venice went in a different direction, to a more thoroughgoing oligarchy (rule by the wealthy elite). While in Florence great pains were taken to rotate people in and out of office (we call them "term limits"), in Venice the closing of the Grand Council in 1297 guaranteed that the political class in that city would be limited. While in practice Florence's ruling class became limited as well, there was still a tradition of participation that continued to inform people's thinking.
The political activity in Italy during this period is described on p. 51 as a process of "highly conscious state formation." People reached back to Roman law as one important basis for building institutions of government. The jurists who participated in the development of political theory and the secretaries who carried out the business of government were important in the development of a political and intellectual culture that was unique to Italy. Along with the economic developments of the period, they are the source of what we now call the Italian Renaissance.
Terms:
Laurel Carrington carringt@stolaf.edu
Most recent update: January 23, 2008