City-states at the crossroads, 1300–1450
City-states at the crossroads, 1300–1450
The south
This chapter surveys the Italian cities during their principal period of territorial consolidation and/or outreach beyond their own contadi. That occurred in many cases during a time of economic downturn and increasing costs of war, before the demographic crisis of the Black Death. There emerged both regional states (Venice, Milan, Florence) and city‐based dynastic principalities (Este, Gonzaga), as well as condottiere‐signorie in central Italy. A triangular relationship developed between dominant cities, subordinate cities, and the latter's contadi; these did not necessarily regard their former civic overlords as better masters than the regional capitals. Wide variations in the economic and administrative policies of and within the regional city‐states emerged. At the same time, several city‐states survived as independent republics.
Keywords: regional states, dynastic principalities, signorie, republican survival, Milan, Venice, Florence, Lucca, Siena, Dubrovnik
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