From little princes to subjects? Signorial powers in Fifteenth-Century Northern Italy

In 14th century northern Italy, the incorporation of many formerly independent cities by the rising signorie goes often along with the breakdown of the contadi, which the newly subdued cities find increasingly difficult to govern. Connected to both processes is the development and the consolidation of rural lordships, sometimes established by families of urban origins. At the beginning of the 15th century the italian political frame is still “fluid” and characterized by the war between the regional states: in such an unsettled context, some of these lordships (Rossi, Pallavicini, Correggio, Dal Verme) enjoy a good deal of political autonomy and develop organizational structures sophisticated enough to authorize the use of expressions such as «small signorial states» to define them. During the second half of the century, though, the stabilization of the italian political system, the strenghtening of the regional states and the quarrelsomeness of the signorial lineages bring about the weakening of these lordships, the loss of their autonomy and in some cases their vanishing. This paper treats the political evolution of some lordships during the 15th century, focusing on their material constitution and on the complexity of their forms of government, but also on the “ideology” and the language of the lords.