Society and Politics in Medieval Italy The Evolution of the Civil Life, woo-1350

NEW STUDIES IN MEDIEVAL HISTORY

General Editor: Denis Bethell

Society and Politics in Medieval Italy The Evolution of the Civil Life, I000-1350

J. K. HYDE

Macmillan Education

ISBN 978-0-333-11460-5 ISBN 978-1-349-15504-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-15504-0

© J. K. Hyde I973 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1973 978-0-333-11459-9

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For Maura

Contents

Acknowledgements ix

Chronological Table xi

INTRODUCTION 1

THE SOCIAL FOUNDATIONS OF MEDIEVAL ITALY 10

The Slow Death of Roman Italy 10

The Divided Society: the Seventh to the Tenth Century 16

The Reopening of the Mediterranean by the Latins 29

2 THE EMERGENCE oF THE CoMMUNES

The Old Regime

The Nature of the Commune

The Mental Climate

3 THE CENTURY OF GROWTH, 1150-1250

The Developing Economy

The Foundations of Secular Culture

4 THE CoNsoLIDATION oF THE CoMMUNEs, 1150-1250

From the Consulate to the Podesta The Triumph of the Popolo Frederick II and the First Despots

5 PoLITICS IN THE AGE OF DANTE

The Papacy and the Eclipse of the Empire

The Age of the Guelphs and the Ghibellines

The Signoria

6 THE FLOWERING OF THE 'VITA CIVILE'

The Heyday of the Cities

International Merchants

The Ruling Class

94 94

104

l19

Contents

Acknowledgements ix

Chronological Table xi

INTRODUCTION 1

THE SOCIAL FOUNDATIONS OF MEDIEVAL ITALY 10

The Slow Death of Roman Italy 10

The Divided Society: the Seventh to the Tenth Century 16

The Reopening of the Mediterranean by the Latins 29

2 THE EMERGENCE OF THE COMMUNES

The Old Regime

The Nature of the Commune

The Mental Climate

3 THE CENTURY OF GROWTH, 1150-1250

The Developing Economy

The Foundations of Secular Culture

4 THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE COMMUNES, 1150 - 12 5 0

From the Consulate to the Podesta The Triumph of the Popolo Frederick II and the First Despots

5 POLITICS IN THE AGE OF DANTE

The Papacy and the Eclipse of the Empire

The Age of the Guelphs and the Ghibellines

The Signoria

6 THE FLOWERING OF THE 'VITA CIVILE'

The Heyday of the Cities

International Merchants

The Ruling Class

94 94

104 119

38384860656583

124124132141153153158165

viii CONTENTS

7 THE END OF AN ERA 178 The Disasters of the Mid-fourteenth Century 178

Marsiglia of Padua's Plan for Peace 186

Abbreviations to Bibliographies and References 199 Bibliographies: Introductory Note 200

I Select Bibliography of Works in English 200

II Select Bibliography of Works in Other Languages 207

References 217

Index 223

MAPS

1 Byzantine and Lombard Italy, c. 616 xvii

2 Italy in the tenth century xviii 3A Overseas trade of Genoa, c. 1too-1300 xix

B Northern trade of Genoa, c. 110o-13oo xx 4 Northern Italy in 1310 xxi

The relative wealth of the chief north Italian cities in 1311 xxii

5 Major Italian cities, c. 1340 xxiii

6 The trading world of Francesco Pegolotti, c. 1340 xxiv

PLATES

between pages 72 and 7 3

I Two planned towns of northern Italy from the air

II The Veronese Commune receives a standard from St Zeno

III The crucial role of law in communal society

IV The strong arm of the law in Genoa, 1190

V The Signore triumphs over the Commune

VI The ideal of the Vita Civile

Acknowledgements

As the idea of this book first arose out of my teaching at Man­chester, so my first debt is to the students who attended my classes on Italian history over the years whose questions and comments helped to shape the subject in my mind. The materials were pro­vided by the diligent researches of many scholars, most but not all of whom are mentioned in the notes and bibliographies; in work­ing their separate findings into a general pattern, I hope I have not distorted what they intended to say. I owe a special debt of grati­tude to Professor Donald Bullough, who found time among many other commitments to read the early chapters; his expert observa­tions saved me from many a blunder. From the editor of this series, Mr Denis Bethell, I have received more in the way of constructive guidance and encouragement than any author could expect or hope for; as this book has grown chapter by chapter, so has our friendship. Finally, I am aware that my family have had a lot to put up with while this book has been in preparation. I wish to thank them for their patience, especially my wife, who besides much support and encouragement gave time to read each succes­sive draft as it appeared; her lay comments led to improvements on almost every page.

The author and the publishers wish to thank the following for permission to reproduce the illustrations appearing in this book: the Ministry of Defence (Air) and the Pitt Rivers Museum, Ox­ford, for Plates IA and In; Dr Julian Gardner and the Courtauld Institute of the University of London for Plate II; Orlandini of Modena and Librairie Armand Colin: © Naissance de l'Europe by R. S. Lopez, published by Armand Colin S.A., Paris, for Plate III; the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, for Plate IV and Editions d'Art Albert Skira, Geneva, for Plate VI.

The author and the publishers also wish to thank the Columbia University Press for permission to reproduce on pages 154-5 a pas­sage from R. S. Lopez and I. W. Raymond, Medieval Trade in the Mediterranean World (1955), and C. T. Davis for permission to reproduce on page 165 a passage from his 'Il Buono Tempo An­tico' inN. Rubinstein (ed.), Florentine Studies (1g6g).

c.s.-1*

Chronological Table

c. 235-68

330

452

493-526

534-c. 54 568 653-61

75 1

774

8oo 831 841-71 875-962

876-c. 1025 899-954 915

962 c.979

Civil wars and barbarian invasions greatly impoverish western Roman Empire. Foundation of Constantinople as second capital of the Roman Empire. Invasion of Italy by the Goths; imperial court withdraws from Milan to Ravenna. Huns under Attila destroy Aquileia and other cities of N.E. Italy. Deposition of last emperor in the West; barbarian armies settled on the land. Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, rules the Italians in the name of the emperor. Italy devasted by Justinian's Gothic war. Lombards invade Italy. King Aribert I: official conversion of the Lombards from Arian to Catholic Christianity. Lombards finally capture Ravenna; collapse of Byzantine power in North Italy. Franks under Pepin raid Lombardy at request of Pope Stephen III. Charlemagne, king of the Franks, conquers Lombard kingdom. Charlemagne crowned emperor in Rome. Saracens capture Palermo. Saracens hold Bari. Decline of the kingdom of Italy; power passes to local bishops and nobility. Byzantine political hegemony over South Italy. Intermittent Magyar raids on Italy. Local forces under Pope John X destroy the Saracen stronghold on the Garigliano. Otto I of Saxony crowned emperor in Rome. Archbishop Landulph enfeoffs milites with lands of the church of Milan. Regency of the Empress Theophanu for her son Otto III; rights of the palace at Pavia alienated(?).

xii

99~

100~

10~4

1039

1046 1056 1057 1064 107~

1076

1081-5 1087 1093

1115

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE

Golden Bull granting trading privileges in the Byzantine Empire to the Venetians. Death of Otto III ends the attempt to re-establish the imperial capital at Rome. Death of the Emperor Henry II; destruction of the imperial palace at Pavia. Norman mercenaries settled on land at A versa. Constitutio de feudis promulgated by Emperor Conrad II while besieging Milan. General mobilisation of Milanese by archbishop Aribert who institutes the first carroccio. Norman settlement of Apulia under the Hauteville family begins. Council of Sutri initiates age of papal reform. Death of Henry III; minority of Henry IV. Rise of the patarini in Milan. Pisa cathedral founded; Pisan fleet raids Palermo. Palermo taken by the Normans. Outbreak of the Investiture Contest between Henry IV and Gregory VII, brought to a head by the investiture of the archbishop of Milan. Venetians granted freedom of trade with Constantinople in return for naval support against the Normans. Emergence of the consulate at Pisa. Joint Pisan-Genoese expedition against Mahdia. Consuls at the small town of Biandrate near Novara. Genoese and Pisan fleets support the crusaders in the Levant; emergence of the Genoese consulate. Death of the Countess Matilda of Tuscany; her lands disputed between the Empire and the Papacy; destruction of the imperial palace and the emergence of the commune at Bologna. Concordat of Worms between Empire and Papacy. Death of Henry V begins period of imperial weakness in Italy. Norman South united under Roger II. Amalfi sacked by the Pisans.

1143

ugo

1197

c. ug8 ug8

c. 1200

1204

uwg uns

1.224 1226

1227 1228

1235

CHRONOLOGICAL TARLE xiii

Formation of the Roman commune; emergence of the council at Venice. Guido da Sasso first recorded podesta at Bologna. Frederick Barbarossa crowned emperor; execution of Arnold of Brescia. Frederick consults Italian jurists at the Diet of Roncaglia. Formation of the Lombard League against Frederick I. Lombard cities defeat Frederick I at Legnano. Peace of Constance; Frederick I recognises jurisdiction of the cities of the Lombard League. Death of Frederick I on crusade; succeeded by Henry VI who claims Naples and Sicily by right of his wife Constance and conquers them. Death of Henry VI; Frederick II king of Sicily, Germany and Italy contested between Otto of Brunswick (Welf) and Philip of Swabia (Waiblingen=Ghibelline) until 1208.

Credenza di Sant'Ambrogio formed in Milan. Innocent III becomes pope: virtual foundation of papal state in central Italy. Universitates of law students formed at Bologna. Fourth Crusade dominated by Venetians captures Constantinople. First rule of St Francis. Fourth Lateran Council; Boncompagno's Rhetorica Antiqua read at Bologna. Frederick II crowned emperor; university of Padua founded. Frederick II founds the university of Naples. Death of St Francis. Rising of the communanza at Verona. Rising of the popolo at Bologna; Accursian gloss completed. Publication of Frederick II's Sicilian law-book, the Liber Augustalis. Frederick II undertakes subjugation of the Lombard communes.

xiv

1261

u68

1279-80

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE

Frederick II captures Vicenza and Padua; de facto signori a of Ezzelino III da Romano in E. Lombardy established. Azzo VII d'Este captures Ferrara and establishes de facto signoria. Deposition of Frederick II by Council of Lyons. Formation of Primo Popolo in Florence; death of Frederick II. Gold genovins and florins first coined. Capture and death of Ezzelino III da Romano. Battle of Montaperti; beginning of Ghibelline hegemony in Tuscany. Michael VIII Paleologus captures Constantinople; end of the Latin Empire; Genoese gain access to Black Sea; election of Urban IV. Obizzo II d'Este elected signore of Ferrara. Battle of Benevento; death of Manfred; Charles of Anjou becomes king of Sicily; beginning of Angevin predominance in Italy. Death of Conradin, last of the Hohenstaufen, at Tagliacozzo. Rudolph of Habsburg elected king of the Romans; Napoleone della Torre imperial vicar of Milan; abortive reconciliation of Florentine parties by Gregory X. Battle of Desio; Visconti expel della Torre from Milan; Alberto della Scala elected signore of Verona. First Genoese galleys sent to Flanders and England. Nicholas III (Orsini) enforces papal claim to Romagna. Peace mission of Cardinal Latino to Bologna and Florence. Sicilian Vespers; French lose Sicily to Aragonese; Ordinamenti sacrati (anti-magnatiallaws) at Bologna. Genoese defeat the Pisans at Meloria. Alberto Scotto elected signore of Piacenza. Ordinances of Justice at Florence.

c. 1295-1301 1301

1310-13 c. 1314-21 1320

1327--9 1329 1332-3 1337

1342-3 1343

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE XV

Boniface VIII pope; who builds up the power of his own family, the Caetani; is a formidable enemy of the White party, and who is defeated and humiliated by the French king Philip the Fair. Conflict of Blacks and Whites in Florence. Mission of Charles of Valois and expulsion of Whites from Florence. Guido della Torre expels Visconti from Milan. Election of Clement V; beginning of the line of 'Avignon' popes. Fall of White stronghold of Pistoia. Clement V claims Ferrara for the papacy; war with Venice; Henry of Luxemburg elected king of the Romans. Henry VII in Italy. Dante's Divine Comedy written. John XXII sends Bertrand du Poujet as legate against the Visconti. Marsiglia of Padua completes Defensor Pacis. Fall of Paduan commune to Cangrande della Scala of Verona. Lewis of Bavaria in Italy. Lucca sold by German mercenaries. Intervention of John of Bohemia inN. Italy. Taddeo Pepoli signore of Bologna; end of the last free commune north of the Apennines. Walter of Brienne signore of Florence. New regime in Florence; Peruzzi and numerous other banks fail; death of Robert king of Naples. Bardi go bankrupt. The Black Death in Italy.

~ Territory held by ~ ~ Lombards, c. 616

MAP 1

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THE RELATIVE WEALTH OF THE CHIEF

NORTH ITALIAN CITIES IN 1311

In February 1311 Henry of Luxemburg tried to impose a tax on his Italian kingdom north of the Apennines to maintain his Vicar-General, Amadeus V of Savoy, his staff and a standing army of 1,500 cavalry. An annual sum of nearly 3oo,ooo florins was divided among some fifty Lombard cities and territorial magnates. Although political factors may have influenced some of the bar­gains made, and there had been little time for a detailed assess­ment, there is no reason to doubt that the figures do represent, in a general way, what Henry's advisers believed the various cities and lords could reasonably pay. The assessment is the best source for the relative wealth of the Lombard cities that we have.

Genoa Milan Venice Padua Brescia Verona Cremona Asti, Bergamo, Parma Treviso Piacenza, Pavia Mantua Como Vercelli Vicenza Modena Novara Reggio Lodi Tortona Chieri, Trento, Mq.

Montferrat

APPROXIMATE POPULAnON, c.1340

0 MILAN SO.Q00- 1 00,000

• hlermo c.50,000

0 Veron• 20,000-40,000

A flrrar• c. to.ooo

Bound6ry of Kingdom of Nsplu

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