Police Power in the Italian Communes, 1228–1326 Gregory Roberts February 2019 To my parents ii Table of Contents Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................ v List of Figures ........................................................................................................................................ vi A Note on Usage .................................................................................................................................. vii Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................... viii Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 1 Police as a Mode of Governance ................................................................................................................. 5 Police and Impersonal Rules ...................................................................................................................... 8 The Plan of the Book .................................................................................................................................... 10 Works Cited .................................................................................................................................................... 12 Chapter 1: Police Power in the Italian Communes ................................................................. 18 The Podestà’s Household ........................................................................................................................... 19 Police Patrols and Inspections ................................................................................................................. 25 The Legal Process: From Detention to Trial ........................................................................................ 33 A Comparison of Selected Data ................................................................................................................ 40 Conclusion: Policing and Hegemonic Justice ....................................................................................... 52 Works Cited .................................................................................................................................................... 53 Chapter 2: Police Discretion and Personal Autonomy .......................................................... 59 Social Identity ................................................................................................................................................ 61 Political Status ............................................................................................................................................... 65 Factual Matters .............................................................................................................................................. 69 Legal Presumptions ..................................................................................................................................... 73 Police Jurisdiction ........................................................................................................................................ 77 Mitigating Factors ......................................................................................................................................... 81 Conclusion: The Paradox of Impersonality .......................................................................................... 84 Works Cited .................................................................................................................................................... 86 Chapter 3: The Logic of Third-Party Policing ........................................................................... 89 “To […] Pursue and Capture Outlawed Criminals” ............................................................................ 91 “To […] Search for Men Bearing Prohibited Arms” ............................................................................ 97 “Trustworthy Foreign Men” ................................................................................................................... 100 “The Good State of the Commune” ....................................................................................................... 105 Conclusion: A Preventive Police ........................................................................................................... 111 Works Cited ................................................................................................................................................. 113 Chapter 4: EXternal Threats: Policing Out-Groups and Criminality ............................... 120 Judicial Violence ......................................................................................................................................... 123 The Public Interest .................................................................................................................................... 129 Outlaws, Infames, and Men of Ill Repute ............................................................................................ 131 Police Patrols as Dragnet ........................................................................................................................ 136 The Role of Fama ....................................................................................................................................... 141 Conclusion: A Persecuting Society? ..................................................................................................... 146 Works Cited ................................................................................................................................................. 148 iii Chapter 5: Internal Threats: Policing Violence and Enmity .............................................. 154 Enmity and Instability .............................................................................................................................. 158 Policing Feud ............................................................................................................................................... 162 Toward a Monopoly on Violence .......................................................................................................... 170 Preventing Enmity ..................................................................................................................................... 175 Conclusion: Legislating in the Shadow of Violence ........................................................................ 181 Works Cited ................................................................................................................................................. 184 Chapter 6: The Social Impact of Third-Party Policing ......................................................... 192 Mandatory Rules ........................................................................................................................................ 194 Legal Literacy .............................................................................................................................................. 197 Fear of the Familia ..................................................................................................................................... 201 Violent Self-Help ........................................................................................................................................ 205 Police-Community Relations ................................................................................................................. 209 Public Corruption ...................................................................................................................................... 212 Legal Privilege ............................................................................................................................................ 217 Conclusion: A Legacy of Government Coercion ............................................................................... 221 Works Cited ................................................................................................................................................. 224 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................... 227 Works Cited ................................................................................................................................................. 231 Index .................................................................................................................................................... 232 iv Acknowledgments Authors of academic books typically thank their loved ones last, but here it is only appropriate that I thank my wife Rebecca first and foremost. This book project loomed already at the start of our relationship, and I could not have finished it—especially while working full-time outside of academia—without her patient love and support. It is my peculiar good fortune as an author to have a wife who also holds a doctorate in medieval history and is an experienced (and willing) editor. Any scholar who works on justice in medieval Bologna does so in the shadow of Sarah Rubin Blanshei,