Captain of the people () was an administrative title used in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, established essentially to balance the power and authority of the noble families of the

Italian city-states The Italian city-states were numerous political and independent territorial entities that existed in the Italian Peninsula from antiquity to the formation of the Kingdom of Italy in the late 19th century. The ancient Italian city-states were E ...

.Najemy, John M. 2006. ''A History of Florence 1200-1575''. Blackwell Publishing. . pp. 66–7, 75, 83–4, 94, 123, 157, 172, 178, 248.

History

It was created in the early 13th century when the ''populares'', the increasingly wealthy classes of commoners (merchants, professionals, craftsmen and, in maritime cities, ship-owners) began to acquire roles in the communal administration of various Italian city-states, and needed a municipal officeholder able to counter the political power of the nobles (called ''potentes''), represented usually by the ''

podestà (), also potestate or podesta in English, was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of central and northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a c ...

'' (a title used for chief magistrates and other top administrators in medieval Italian cities). One of the first ''capitani del popolo'' was created in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

in northern Italy, appointed in 1228. The ''capitano del popolo'' exercised control of the ''podestà'', sometimes flanked by two autonomous councils with representatives of local

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

s of artisans and craftsmen () and the ''gonfalonieri'', leaders of military units connected with city's parishes. In the

Republic of Florence The Republic of Florence (; Old Italian: ), known officially as the Florentine Republic, was a medieval and early modern state that was centered on the Italian city of Florence in Tuscany, Italy. The republic originated in 1115, when the Flor ...

, a ''capitano del popolo'' existed from 1250 as part of the attempt to free the city from the rule of Frederick II. Such office also existed in the early stages of the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

, that elected

Guglielmo Boccanegra Guglielmo Boccanegra was a Genoese statesman, the first ''capitano del popolo'' of the Republic of Genoa, from 1257 to 1262, exercising a real lordship, assisted in the government by a council of 32 elders. Biography Origin and early years T ...

as its first ''capitano del popolo'' in 1257. Towards the second half of the 13th century, however, the communal title of ''capitano del popolo'' became a breeding ground for

despotism In political science, despotism () is a government, form of government in which a single entity rules with absolute Power (social and political), power. Normally, that entity is an individual, the despot (as in an autocracy), but societies whi ...

and hereditary lordship. By gaining control of the election process for choosing the title-holder, many influential families (including aristocrats that the establishment of this office had contributed to keeping out of power) gained control over their cities and towns of residence, thus assuring their long-lasting influence and progressively transforming the ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' into a '' signoria'' (i.e. lordship).

References

Bibliography

* {{cite book, author=Giuliano Milani, title=I comuni italiani, publisher=Laterza, date=2005, lang=it Gubernatorial titles * Medieval history of Italy 2nd millennium in Italy Legal history of Italy

History

See also

References

Bibliography