Raising Claims: Justice and Commune in Late Medieval Italy (Studies in European Urban History 1100-1800, 56)

"Ceccholo, making a claim against Nello for the payment of unpaid land rent. Jacopo, Giovanni and Turi, appealing for an exemption from tax. The long queue of claimants that formed in front of the communal palace was an everyday scene in fourteenth century Lucca. What is remarkable is the enormous ubiquity of such claims. In this Tuscan city of only twenty thousand people, an average of ten thousand claims were filed at the civil court each year. Why did local residents submit claims to the commune in such numbers? And what effect did this daily accumulation have on the development of the commune? In the fourteenth century, Italian communes, the established public authorities that governed the populace, underwent a shift toward becoming oligarchic regimes. The communes' character as a form of government in which power was held "in common" by "the public" seemed be on the verge of disappearing. At this time, political leaders and judicial magistrates began to rely on their own discretion when rendering their decisions, a practice that was recognized as legitimate even when such decisions deviated from positive law. By the beginning of the fifteenth century, this shift in the underlying logic of the legitimacy of rulings became entrenched in the jural and political character of the commune, portending the advent of the modern era. Based on the archival records from law courts and councils, this book elucidates the process of the emergence and shaping of a new form of justice and the transformation of the commune by focusing on everyday practices that unfolded in the spheres of civil and criminal justice by inhabitants who raised claims and the governors who heard them. So Nakaya is a Professor Associate at Osaka University (Japan). His research interests focus on social and legal history of the medieval Italian cities. The Japanese edition of this book won him the Japan Academy Medal for 2017, JSPS Prize for 2017, Premio Fosco Maraini 2016, Amano Kazuo Prize for 2016."-- Back cover Ceccholo, que reclama a Nello el pago de las rentas de la tierra impagadas. Jacopo, Giovanni y Turi, apelando a una exención de impuestos. La larga cola de reclamantes que se formaba frente al palacio comunal era una escena cotidiana en la Lucca del siglo XIV. Lo que llama la atención es la enorme ubicuidad de tales reclamaciones. En esta ciudad toscana de tan sólo veinte mil habitantes, se presentaba una media de diez mil reclamaciones ante el tribunal civil cada año. ¿Por qué los residentes locales presentaban reclamaciones a la comuna en tales cantidades? ¿Y qué efecto tuvo esta acumulación diaria en el desarrollo del municipio? En el siglo XIV, los municipios italianos, las autoridades públicas establecidas que gobernaban a la población, experimentaron un cambio para convertirse en regímenes oligárquicos. El carácter de las comunas como forma de gobierno en la que el poder se ejercía "en común" por "el público" parecía estar a punto de desaparecer. En esta época, los líderes políticos y los magistrados judiciales comenzaron a confiar en su propia discreción a la hora de tomar sus decisiones, una práctica que se reconocía como legítima incluso cuando dichas decisiones se desviaban del derecho positivo. A principios del siglo XV, este cambio en la lógica subyacente de la legitimidad de las decisiones se afianzó en el carácter jurídico y político del municipio, presagiando el advenimiento de la era moderna. Basándose en los registros de los archivos de los tribunales y los consejos, este libro dilucida el proceso de aparición y configuración de una nueva forma de justicia y la transformación de la comuna, centrándose en las prácticas cotidianas que se desarrollaron en las esferas de la justicia civil y penal por parte de los habitantes que plantearon demandas y los gobernantes que las escucharon. So Nakaya es profesor asociado en la Universidad de Osaka (Japón). Sus intereses de investigación se centran en la historia social y jurídica de las ciudades medievales italianas. La edición japonesa de este libro le valió la Medalla de la Academia de Japón de 2017, el Premio JSPS de 2017, el Premio Fosco Maraini de 2016, el Premio Amano Kazuo de 2016 Ceccholo, making a claim against Nello for the payment of unpaid land rent. Jacopo, Giovanni and Turi, appealing for an exemption from tax. The long queue of claimants that formed in front of the communal palace was an everyday scene in fourteenth century Lucca. What is remarkable is the enormous ubiquity of such claims. In this Tuscan city of only twenty thousand people, an average of ten thousand claims were filed at the civil court each year. Why did local residents submit claims to the commune in such numbers? And what effect did this daily accumulation have on the development of the commune?0In the fourteenth century, Italian communes, the established public authorities that governed the populace, underwent a shift toward becoming oligarchic regimes. The communes? character as a form of government in which power was held ?in common? by ?the public? seemed be on the verge of disappearing. At this time, political leaders and judicial magistrates began to rely on their own discretion when rendering their decisions, a practice that was recognized as legitimate even when such decisions deviated from positive law. By the beginning of the fifteenth century, this shift in the underlying logic of the legitimacy of rulings became entrenched in the jural and political character of the commune, portending the advent of the modern era. Based on the archival records from law courts and councils, this book elucidates the process of the emergence and shaping of a new form of justice and the transformation of the commune by focusing on everyday practices that unfolded in the spheres of civil and criminal justice by inhabitants who raised claims and the governors who heard them.00So Nakaya is a Professor Associate at Osaka University (Japan). His research interests focus on social and legal history of the medieval Italian cities. The Japanese edition of this book won him the Japan Academy Medal for 2017, JSPS Prize for 2017, Premio Fosco Maraini 2016, Amano Kazuo Prize for 216 11 Introduction 15 Chapter 1. Why did People Go to the Courts? 33 Chapter 2. Realisation of the Commune through Claims 59 Chapter 3. A Shift of Judicial Principle: from Formalism to Arbitrium 97 Chapter 4. Criminal Justice in Fourteenth-Century Lucca 135 Chapter 5. Gratia, the Commune, and Justice 169 Chapter 6. The Commune and Politics in the Practice of Extraordinary Justice 197 Conclusion 231 Chronology 239 Bibliography 241