Governments of the Universitates: Urban Communities of Sicily in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries

by Fabrizio Titone

Overview

Titone refutes established historiographic interpretations in a long-term analysis of urban institutional and social transformations in Sicily during the Late Middle Ages and shows how distinct chronological divisions do not apply to these local governments characterized by both marked experimentation and striking continuity. The urban communities' social and institutional deformities are brought to light along with the fact that intense communication among cities could produce common results. The pivotal role consistently played by the universitates in the affairs of the kingdom can be seen in the process of defining urban autonomy which often involved sovereign and community in interrelated decision making. Cities frequently oriented royal policy and this explains a unique feature of Sicilian pactism: a community might not implement a sovereign's concession even though it ensued from municipal solicitations. The period of validity for a privilege when requested by only certain groups was linked to maintenance of the local status quo. Opposition from excluded parties and a shift in the balance of power originally underlying royal assent to a petition often meant the concession would not be put into effect with no further central government involvement necessary.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9782503527574
Publisher:	Brepols Publishers
Publication date:	11/10/2009
Series:	Studies in European Urban History (1100-1800) Series , #21
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Fabrizio Titone is currently a post-doctoral Mellon Fellow at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. His research interests focuses on the urban history of the Aragonese Crown.

Table of Contents

Explanatory Notes VII

Units of measure VII

Maps IX

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 The Establishment of Aragonese Rule

1.1 Demographic estimates 15

1.2 The institutional realm from the time of Peter III to Frederick IV 17

1.3 Fiscal policy during the reigns of Frederick III and Frederick IV: an initial adaptation to the needs of the universitates 34

1.4 The universitates during the viceregal period: a suggested interpretation 41

Chapter 2 Cities from the Time of Martin I to Alphonso V: A Polycentric System

2.1 Martin I and the re-establishment of an urban coalition 49

2.2 The electoral system: a long-term model with few variations 62

2.3 The town councils 77

Chapter 3 Urban Magistracies in the Alphonsian Period

3.1 Power relations in municipal administrations: the practice of shared governance 93

3.2 The office of the baiulus 103

3.3 Institutional differences in government organizational structures 109

3.4 A system safeguarding municipal prerogatives: the judicial sphere-the privilegium fori and appellate court, the royal commissioner, and the right to reply 113

3.5 Exgratia concessions and familiares et domestici regis 126

Chapter 4 Financial and Fiscal Policy During the Reign of Alphonso V

4.1 The urban tax system 131

4.2 Municipal deficit and direct taxation 140

4.3 Alienation of the captaincy 148

4.4 Alienation of the universitates 162

Chapter 5 Socio-Professional Groups and Electoral Competition from the Time of Martin I to Alphonso V

5.1 Social Stratification 169

5.2 Conflicts over Access to Local Government 184

Conclusions 215

Manuscript sources and abbreviations 219

Printed sources and abbreviations 219

Bibliography 223

Appendix, Notes to the Appendix 247

Tables 249

Indexes 303