How seriously did the leading families of Florence in this period attempt to govern in the general interest of the population of their city?

Giovanni Villanis chronicle of Florentine history, written before the Black Death, contains a famous chapter entitled On the Greatness and State and Magnificence of the spread of Florence. The statistics he includes in this chapter place Florence among the five most inhabit cities in Europe in 1338; only Paris, Venice, Milan, and Naples were larger in size. Florence was also 1 of Europes wealthiest cities, in a large divide due to the production and sale of woollen cloth, the value of which exceeded whizz and one-half million florins a year. However, Villanis survey of the city in 1338 represents a climax [in his chronicle], depicting the city at the height of its power. From this tier up on the direct families of Florence had the enormous task of maintaining, - one could argue, in the general interest of the population -if not expanding, Florences size, wealth and brilliance in Europe. To give sufficiently detailed analysis of some(prenominal) the spicy regimes dome stic and foreign policies requires more scope than that which is useable; therefore, this attempt will concentrate on the domestic make-up of the leading families of Florence. It is imperative to examine the structure of the communes political spirit in this period, before even considering any assessment of its performance.

Florence was an self-sustaining common regime, and due to its originate in fortune and thereof the rise in importance of its mercantile and professional classes, its constitution - on paper at least - was remarkably equalitarian for a medieval city. The most important element of intercha nge governance was the Signoria; it compris! ed of eight priors, two appointed from each of the quad districts, and the gonfalonier of jurist. change surface though these nine positions were equally important, the position of gonfalonier of justice - who acted as chairman - carried with it... If you want to get a upright essay, army it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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