Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-79248-6 - The Court Cities of Northern Italy: Milan, Parma, Piacenza, Mantua, Ferrara, Bologna, Urbino, Pesaro, and Rimini Edited by Charles M. Rosenberg Excerpt More information INTRODUCTION S Charles M. Rosenberg he six essays in this volume examine the more “modern,” consisting of incipient bureaucra- Tpatronage and production of art and architec- cies that allowed individuals to advance on the basis ture in a crescent of North Italian cities – Milan, of their own skills and creativity. Recent discussions Parma, Piacenza, Mantua, Ferrara, Bologna, Pesaro, of the nature of signorial governments and individ- Rimini, and Urbino – during the “Long Renais- ual dynasties by such scholars as John Larner, Gior- sance,” a period extending roughly from 1350 to gio Chittolini, John Law, Evelyn Welch, and Trevor 1600 (Figure 1). Together, these chapters provide a Dean have provided a more nuanced, somewhat less rich supplement to the traditional narrative of Italian judgmental,viewofthesignori and their modes of Renaissance art, which has tended to focus on the governing.6 As Law has pointed out, it is difficult Florentine, Venetian, and Roman traditions. to offer a single model that describes the character- One of the characteristics that distinguished the istics of signorial rule, because each example varied North Italian cities discussed here was the role that according to historical circumstances and the ruler’s signorial governments played in most of them.1 individual personality. Certain generalities, however, Traditionally, the signori have been characterized as can be made. First, for the most part, once in power, despots, or tyrants,2 labels that denote absolute rule signori went to great lengths to establish legitimate by a single individual and, sometimes, the usurpation foundations for their patrimonial rule, foundations and questionable retention of that power, as well as which were based on both legal and moral claims. a capriciousness, or even cruelty, in its exercise. John The claims were often reinforced through symbolic Addington Symonds painted just such a picture of means derived from broader princely ideals such the signori in his book The Age of the Despots.3 Even as the display of public magnificence and private as he acknowledged their contributions to the arts splendor,7 as well as historical emulation and honor. and refinement of life during the Renaissance, he As a result, the courts which formed around these asserted that they often exhibited a sadistic streak.4 rulers became centers of extraordinary intellectual Jacob Burckhardt offered a similar appraisal. The and artistic creativity. Second, these princes exploited signore were capable of inhuman actions,5 but also both older, traditional feudal forms of obligation and epitomized the Renaissance ideal “self-made” man, reward and a variety of emerging communal institu- an individual who succeeded because of his abili- tions in order to legitimize and exercise their author- ties, not his lineage. For Burckhardt, the courts that ity. Third, although the signori possessed remark- formed around these new rulers, a constellation of able powers and resources which allowed them to chancellors and ambassadors, humanists and artists, undertake major public projects, their power was not embodied a shift from a medieval, feudal model of absolute. Finally, although a signore’s public identity government to one which was more rational and might be identified in a very personal way with the 1 © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-79248-6 - The Court Cities of Northern Italy: Milan, Parma, Piacenza, Mantua, Ferrara, Bologna, Urbino, Pesaro, and Rimini Edited by Charles M. Rosenberg Excerpt More information 2 CHARLES M. ROSENBERG state which he controlled, it was neither unitary nor tion of Matteo Visconti’s position from captain of fixed. the people, a communal office, to imperial vicar was Signorial governments first emerged in Italy in beneficial for both the emperor and the Visconti. the thirteenth century, during a period characterized From the perspective of Henry VII, who bestowed by rampant factionalism. The provinces of northern the title of vicarious upon Matteo, it represented an Italy, in particular, were the site of a struggle for acknowledgment of the emperor’s feudal overlord- power between the papacy and the emperor, each of ship by both the comune and its signore. For the Vis- whom claimed broad historical feudal rights in the conti, the vicariate gave their de facto and com- region. Successive emperors asserted their strongest munal positions a new, external form of legitimacy, claims in Lombardy, while the papacy, particularly one which carried juridical and fiscal rights. Dur- after 1278, laid claim to much of the Romagna ing the second quarter of the fourteenth century, the (including Bologna and Ferrara) and the Marches of papacy also began to use a vicarial strategy, employ- Ancona, the site of the future Papal States. Although ing it as a means of asserting its feudal supremacy in these two “superpowers” asserted juridical and fis- the Romagna and the Marches of Ancona. In 1329, cal dominion in this region, their ability to enforce Pope John XXII appointed Rinaldo and Obizzo III their claims was consistently challenged by aggressive d’Este the first papal vicars of Ferrara. This new title city and town governments and by numerous well- provided the Este with a powerful legal foundation established smaller rural feudal lords such as the Rossi for their authority, but it also carried obligations. of Torrechiara and San Secondo, and the Pallavicino Acceptance of the papal vicariate entailed a pub- of Bussetto. As a result, popes and emperors had to be lic recognition of papal hegemony, a commitment content with governing by compromise and conces- to military service, and the payment of not only a sion, exercising what control they had at a distance, substantial initial fee, but also an annual tribute.10 through delegated authorities.8 The principal problem with vicarial titles, though, The larger struggle between the papacy and the was not their cost, but their limited duration; ini- emperor for suzerainty was often exploited at the tially, these titles were granted for only a fixed num- communal level, in contests for civic or territorial ber of years. By the end of the fourteenth century, control among local competing interests. These par- however, the major ruling families, including the ties might identify themselves as pro-papal (Guelph) Visconti, Este, Gonzaga, Malatesta, and Montefel- or pro-imperial (Ghibelline), but were often actu- tro, had been able to make their imperial and papal ally motivated by more parochial interests, such as vicariates hereditary. The communal titles of signore local struggles between urban and rural factions or and capitano del popolo soon became hereditary, as among competing families. Welch’s description of well. Although technically a new signore had to be the rise of the Visconti and the Sforza in Milan, and confirmed by communal election, the confirmation Molly Bourne’s account of the Gonzaga in Mantua, process was normally conducted by a council whose illustrate the typical course of signorial rule. The membership was itself subject to signorial approval, Visconti prevailed in their local struggle with the an arrangement which assured dynastic succession. Della Torre family; the Gonzaga triumphed over Although communal elections and vicarial ap- the Bonacolsi. In each city, civic authorities typically pointments provided local and international foun- named the head of the triumphant faction captain or dations for signorial rule, these offices did not carry captain-general of the people, titles bestowing sig- the level of juridical and fiscal rights or public esteem norial powers. Subsequently, the legitimacy of these associated with the more traditional feudal titles of locally appointed rulers was strengthened by their count, marquis, and duke. While some of the ruling designation as “imperial vicars.” families already possessed feudal titles based on older The office of vicar, or vicarius, had a venerable imperial grants – the Este, for example, were mar- history going back to the time of Emperor Freder- quises, and the Montefeltro were counts – others, ick II (HRE 1220–1250).9 In Milan, the transforma- such as the Visconti, Sforza, and Gonzaga, held no © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-79248-6 - The Court Cities of Northern Italy: Milan, Parma, Piacenza, Mantua, Ferrara, Bologna, Urbino, Pesaro, and Rimini Edited by Charles M. Rosenberg Excerpt More information INTRODUCTION 3 Fig. 1. Map of Northern Italy. such noble titles. During the course of the fifteenth for dynastic continuity arose from popular uprisings, and sixteenth centuries, acquisition and/or elevation intrafamilial rivalries and conspiracies, insubordinate of noble titles became a matter of political ambition vassals, and a lack of legitimate male heirs. The Long and familial pride.11 Renaissance was, in short, a period in which rulers’ However, once authority was obtained, it was political acumen and vigilance were essential for not always a simple matter to maintain and carry out survival. an orderly succession of power, even when dynasties One of the most common political strategies had established their legal rights by means of commu- pursued by the ruling families of northern Italy was nal and feudal titles. The larger political events which the creation of alliances by marriage. In the course swept through the Italic peninsula in the late fifteenth of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Este of and sixteenth centuries, including the waxing and Ferrara, for example, became related by marriage to waning of papal power, the ebb and flow of Venetian the Sforza, Gonzaga, Montefeltro, Malatesta, Benti- terra firma ambitions, and the successive invasions of volgio, Medici, Borgia, and Aragonese, as well as to the French (1494) and Spanish Imperial (1521)forces, King Louis XII of France and Holy Roman Emperor affected all of these cities and their rulers.