ABSTRACT
Throughout the later Middle Ages and beyond, the government in Venice was renowned for its balance and stability, almost certainly an outcome of the city’s constitution that reflected the highly stratified structure of society. In 1212 and after a period of civil strife in Milan, there was a breakthrough in the development of government by the popolo. The emergence of government by the popolo was, in large part, attributable to ‘the demographic and economic expansion of the Italian cities from the twelfth to the mid-fourteenth century, which produced a rapid rise of new families and the movements that resulted in popular government.’ In Florence, the increasingly oligarchic nature of government went hand-in-glove with the public provision of funds for the construction of important construction projects that augmented the built environment of the city. In the turbulent fourteenth century, signorial governments seemed to place less emphasis on promulgating civic pride per se and more on defence or territorial aggrandisement.
