A Signoria (from Signore or Lord) was an abstract noun meaning (roughly) 'government; governing authority; de facto sovereignty; lordship in many of the Italian city states during the medieval and renaissance periods. The Italian city states were a remarkable political phenomenon of small independent states in the northern Italian peninsula between the tenth and fifteenth centuries
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The perennial "power vacuum" of medieval Italy
In the sixth century AD the Emperor Justinian reconquered Italy from the Ostrogoths. An emperor (from the Latin " Imperator " is a (male Monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an Empire or another type of Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Iustinianus ( Greek: Φλάβιος Πέτρος Σαββάτιος Ιουστινιανός; known in English as Justinian I or The Ostrogoths (Ostrogothi or Austrogothi were a branch of the Goths, an East Germanic tribe that played a major role in the political events of the late The invasion of a new wave of Germanic tribes, the Lombards, doomed this attempt to resurrect the Western Roman Empire but the repercussions of Justinian's failure resounded further still. The Germanic peoples are a historical group of Indo-European -speaking peoples originating in Northern Europe and identified by their use of the Germanic The Lombards ( Latin Langobardi, whence the alternative names Langobards and Longobards) were a Germanic people originally from The Western Roman Empire refers to the western half of the Roman Empire, from its division by Diocletian in 285 the other half of the Roman Empire was the Eastern For the next thirteen centuries, whilst new nation-states arose in the lands north of the Alps, the Italian political landscape was a patchwork of feuding city states, petty tyrannies, and foreign invaders. For the online game see Jennifer Government NationStates. The nation-state is a certain form of State that derives its legitimacy A city-state is a Region controlled exclusively by a City, usually having Sovereignty.
For several centuries the armies and Exarchs, Justinian's successors, were a tenacious force in Italian affairs - strong enough to prevent other powers such as the Arabs, the Holy Roman Empire, or the Papacy from establishing a unified Italian state, but too weak to drive these "interlopers" and recreate Roman Italy. This article is about Byzantine governors and ecclesiastical ranks The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding The Holy Roman Empire ( HRE; German Heiliges Römisches Reich (HRR, Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI was a union of territories in History See also History of the Papacy Catholics recognize the Pope as a successor to Saint Peter, who Jesus named as the "shepherd" and
Later Imperial orders such as the Carolingians, the Ottonians and Hohenstaufens also managed to impose their overlordship in Italy. The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolings, or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family with its origins in the The Ottonian dynasty was a dynasty of Germanic Kings (919-1024 named after its first emperor but also known as the Saxon dynasty after the family's origin But their successes were as transitory as Justinian's and a unified Italian state remained a dream until the nineteenth century.
No ultramontanian Empire could succeed in unifying Italy - or in achieving more than a temporary hegemony - because its success threatened the survival of medieval Italy's other powers: the Byzantines, the Papacy, and the Normans. The Normans were the people who gave their names to Normandy, a region in northern France. These - and the descendants of the Lombards - who became fused with earlier Italian ethnic groups - conspired against, fought, and eventually destroyed any attempt to create a dominant political order in Italy.
It was against this vacuum of authority that one must view the rise of the institutions of the Signoria and the Communi. Communes in Europe in the Middle Ages were sworn allegiances of mutual defense (both physical defense and of traditional freedoms among community members of a town or city
Signoria versus the commune
In Italian history the rise of the Signoria is a phase often associated with the decline of the medieval commune system of government and the rise of the dynastic state. Communes in Europe in the Middle Ages were sworn allegiances of mutual defense (both physical defense and of traditional freedoms among community members of a town or city In this context the word Signoria (here to be understood as "Lordly Power") is used in opposition to the institution of the Commune or city republic.
Indeed, contemporary observers and modern historians see the rise of the Signoria as a reaction to the failure of the Communi to maintain law-and-order and suppress party strife and civil discord. In the anarchic conditions that often prevailed in medieval Italian city states, people looked to strong men to restore order and disarm the feuding elites.
In times of anarchy or crisis, cities sometimes offered the Signoria to individuals perceived as strong enough to save the state. For example, the Tuscan state of Pisa offered the Signoria to Charles VIII of France in the hope that he would protect the independence of Pisa from its long term enemy Florence. Tuscany (Toscana is a region in Italy. It has an area of 22990 km² and a population of about 3 Pisa is a city in Tuscany, central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the Arno River on the Ligurian Sea. Charles VIII, called the Affable (l'Affable 30 June 1470 &ndash 7 April 1498 was King of France from 1483 to his death Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany Similarly, Siena offered the Signoria to Cesare Borgia. Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Siena. ( September 13, 1475 &ndash March 12, 1507) Duke of Valentinois, and Romagna, Prince of Andria and Venafro
Types of Signoria
The composition and specific functions of the Signoria varied from city to city. In some states (such as Verona under the Della Scala family or Florence in the days of Cosimo de Medici and Lorenzo the Magnificent) the polity was what we would term today a single party state in which the dominant party had vested the Signoria of the state in a single family or dynasty. Verona is a city and provincial capital in Veneto, Northern Italy. Cosimo di Giovanni de' Medici (September 27 1389 &ndash August 1 1464 was the first of the Medici political dynasty de facto rulers of Lorenzo de' Medici (January 1 1449 &ndash 9 April 1492 was an Italian statesman and de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic during the Italian Renaissance Polity ( Greek: Πολιτεία or Πολίτευμα transliterated as Politeía or Políteuma) was originally a term used in Ancient Greece A single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a type of Party system Government in which a single Political party
In Florence this arrangement was unofficial as it was not constitutionally formalized before the Medici were expelled from the city in 1494.
In other states (such as the Milan of the Visconti) the dynasty's right to the Signoria was a formally recognized part of the Commune's constitution, which had been "ratified" by the People and recognized by the Pope or the Holy Roman Empire. Milan (Milano Milan (listen) is one of the largest cities in Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. Visconti was the family name of two important Italian noble dynasties of the Middle Ages. History See also History of the Papacy Catholics recognize the Pope as a successor to Saint Peter, who Jesus named as the "shepherd" and
Origins of the word Signoria
In a few states the word Signoria was sometimes used to refer to the constitutional government of the Republic rather than the dictatorial power exercised by an individual tyrant or dynasty.
For example, the word Signoria was sometimes used in Renaissance times to refer to the Government of the Republics of Florence or of Venice - as in Shakespeare's Othello where Othello says:
- "Let him do his spite:
- My services which I have done the signiory
- Shall out-tongue his complaints"
(Act one, scene one)
Occasionally the word Signoria referred to specific organs or functions of the state. Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany Venice ( Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venesia or Venexia) is a city in Northern Italy, the capital of the The Signoria of Florence was the highest executive organ, while the Signoria of the Republic of Venice was mainly a judicial body. The Signoria was the Government of Medieval and Renaissance Florence. The Most Serene Republic of Venice ((Serenìsima Repùblica Vèneta or Repùblica de Venesia Serenissima Repubblica
See also
The Signoria was the Government of Medieval and Renaissance Florence. The Signoria of Venice ( Serenissima Signoria) was the supreme body of government of the Republic of Venice. The Italian city states were a remarkable political phenomenon of small independent states in the northern Italian peninsula between the tenth and fifteenth centuriesDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic