Capitani coraggiosi. I Fogliano di Reggio Emilia, cittadini e nobili veneziani

The paper aims to highlight an event linked as much to the history of Venice as to the one of the Emilia-Romagna, and not yet fully recorded by contemporary historiography: the privilege of citizenship and nobility granted in favour of the Fogliano of Reggio Emilia. Moving from a 1431 document of great importance, with which the doge Francesco Foscari confirmed to Tommaso da Fogliano the same privilege, granted in 1339 by Bartolomeo Gradenigo in favour of Guidoriccio da Fogliano, it is intended to understand why a mercenary captain had interest in binding himself to Venice, and on the contrary what interests the city could have in coordinating such a person to itself. The comparison with other information contained in the registers of the Grazie allows us to broaden the perspective, as Giberto, brother of Guidoriccio, had also obtained this privilege, coming to reflect on the issues of granted citizenship and the ambitions of two illustrious representatives of a noble kinship of Reggio Emilia and, in perspective, on the motivations that moved Tommaso almost a century later.