Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent (vol. 1 of 2)Reumont, Alfred von
History
Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent (vol. 1 of 2)
Reumont, Alfred von
Medici, Lorenzo de', 1449-1492
Meanwhile two changes occurred in the internal government of the city
of great, if unequal, importance. The first was the vice-regency of
foreign princes, who now held in the Commune the position formerly
belonging to the chief of the empire, with this difference, that the
Commune awarded the dignity to foreign princes on certain conditions,
and for a certain number of years. The supremacy of King Manfred was
followed in 1267 by that of Charles of Anjou, which the city bore for
ten years. The authority of these princes and their representatives was
limited. A committee of twelve good men selected from the municipal
nobility sat as assessors to the viceroy. Besides this there were both
the council-boards already named, to which was now added a third body,
the secret council of the Guelf burghers, making together a general or
common council. The statutes introduced by the viceroy were sent to
the united councils as to a court of general jurisdiction, before they
were definitively accepted by the Council of Three Hundred. The limits
of the viceroy’s authority were not easily fixed. In the first half
of the ensuing century, when the city was unable to hold out against
the arms of the Ghibellines without the aid of Charles of Anjou, this
part of the Constitution was remodelled more than once. The Anjou
viceroyalty, in concert with the Guelfs, thoroughly rooted out the
suspected Ghibellines. In 1268-69 some three thousand were banished,
many of whom went to the south of France. Their goods were sold, and
the profits devoted to the interests of the victorious party. A special
Commission was appointed to manage the ‘capitani di parte Guelfa,’ and
was assisted by a committee of the Council, composed of nobles and
burghers. In the course of years this body acquired almost dictatorial
power in the State.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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