by Sevrin de Savage [Aaron D. McClelland]

The Signoria
In the Quattrocento, the main governing body of Florence was the Signoria, made up of nine Priori. Following the Italian republic model of short tenures, the nine members of the Signoria held office for only two months. These nine members were comprised of six selected from the major guilds, two selected from the minor guilds, and the ninth being the Gonfalone di Giustizia - [Gonfaliniere of Justice] - the chairman/spokesman of the government.

These members were not elected. Instead, names were drawn from eight leather bags called borse. The borse contained the names of pre-qualified guild members from the quartieri - the four quarters of Florence. Every two months these bags were taken from the sacristy of the church of Santa Croce where they were kept. In a short ceremony that any citizen could observe, names were drawn out at random. Men known to be in debt were declared ineligible for office; as were those who have served a recent term or were related to men whose name had already been drawn.

The citizens who were thus selected were known for the next two months as the Priori, and the government they made up as the Signoria. Immediately upon selection, all of the Priori were required to leave their homes and move into the Palazzo della Signoria where they were obliged to remain for their two month term of office. They were paid a modest salary to cover their expenses and enjoyed the services of a large staff of green-liveried servants as well as a Buffone who told them funny stories and sang for them while they enjoyed excellent meals. The Priori wore splendid crimson coats lined with ermine and with ermine collars and cuffs. The Gonfaloniere’s coat was distinguished from the rest by its embroidery of golden stars.

Fanatic record keepers, all actions of the Florentine Signoria were recorded in the Consulte e Pratiche - minutes of consultative meetings held with the Signoria, and the Libri Fabarum - the ‘book of beans’, being a record of all votes by the Signoria.

The Power of the Guilds
The reasoning behind the guild oriented governmental system was based on the belief that because the guilds generated and were responsible for the economy of Florence, it was they that should comprise the government. The major guilds of Florence included; Arte dei Giudici e Natai, [lawyers]; Arte della Lana [wool merchants], Arte di Por Santa [silk merchants]; Arte di Calimala [cloth merchants]; Arte del Cambio, [bankers], Arte dei Medici, Speziali e Mercaiai, [doctors, apothecaries and shop keepers of merchants who sell spices, dyes, and medicines]. Some artists and craftsmen, such as painters who purchased their supplies from members of the guild were also admitted to the Medici guild. The minor guilds are made up of relatively humble tradesmen such as butchers, tanners, leatherworkers, smiths, cooks, stonemasons, joiners, vintners, innkeepers, tailors, armourers, and bakers.

The Minuto Popolo were the weavers, spinners, dyers, boatmen, labourers, peddlers and others who had no permanent workshop were not allowed to form guilds and therefore could not take part in the governance of Florence despite constituting three-quarters of the of the population. The grande, the very rich and noble families, were also denied representation in the government.

Consultation
When enacting legislation and formulating foreign policy, the Signoria was required to consult two elected councils known as the Collegi - consisting of twelve citizens, and the Sedici Gonfalonieri - comprising sixteen - the latter representing the four wards from each of the quartieri. Other councils, such as Ten of War, the Eight of Security and the Six of Commerce, were appointed from time to time as the circumstances of the Republic demanded.

Officials
Florence also had permanent officials, notably the Chancellor, who was a distinguished man of letters; the Notaio delle Riformagioni, who proclaimed and enforced the decrees of the Signoria; and the Podesta, a Lord Chief Justice, a foreigner usually of noble birth who lived at the Palazzo della Podesta, which also served as a court and prison. He served a six month term and lived in virtual isolation to maintain his objectivity.

Watchdogs
Two other representational bodies that completed the government of Florence were the Consiglio del Commune and the Consiglio del Popolo comprising 500 members of the commune who served six month terms. Both of these bodies represented the population of Florence with members being drawn from the quartieri. Though they could not enact legislation, they voted on laws proposed by the Signoria.

The Quartieri
One of the social mores that made Florence and its system of government a success was the spirit of partnership within the commune. Toward that end, Florence was divided into quartieri [quarters] and each quartieri into four wards. Each ward had its own Gonfalonieri who represented his neighbourhood. The quartieri and corresponding wards were ...

Santo Spirito	Santa Croce	Santa Maria Novella	Santo Giovanni
Scala	Carro	Vipera	Leon d’Oro
Nicchio	Bue	Unicomo	Drago
Ferza	Leon Nero	Leon Rosso	Chiavi
Drago	Ruote	Leon Bianco	Vaio

Each quartieri had its own peculiar character, distinguished by the trades that made their home there and by the palaces of the rich families. Each area had a loggie, an open-air colonnaded meeting ground where business was discussed while friends met and children played. Politics and business were woven into the social fabric of Florence. The philosophy of Civic Humanism dictated that all citizens had a part to play in the republic, and each man owed the republic for the livelihood it provided him

When the ‘Vacca’ - the great alarm bell in the tower of the Palazzo della Signoria - sounded, the wisdom behind the ward structure of Florence became apparent. All able-bodied men of each ward of the city immediately rushed to fall into step behind their ward’s Gonfalonieri. Together they marched to the Piazza della Signoria, where all men of all wards of the city gathered. There they would be informed of the emergency that the Signoria had declared, and would await instruction from the Gonfalone di Giustizia on what was required of them. These emergencies could range from natural calamities to harsh criminal acts to invasion and war.

Complexity
An overview of the governmental system of Florence in the Quattrocento would make it appear to be overly complex and ponderous. Yet if one considers historic accounts such as the attempted coup d’tat and resulting war of the Pazzi Conspiracy of 1478, one sees that the system was flexible and responsive. Most importantly, this government system was faithful to the milieu that made Florentine commerce so successful - open and constant communication between all participants.

The government of Florence and other Italian republics would later serve as models for modern governments. Comparing the Signoria to the office of the President of the United States, one could then view the Consiglio del Commune and the Consiglio del Popolo as Congress and Senate, with the Podesta as the Supreme Court. The quartieri would then represent local governments.

Though the system in Florence - like any government - was vulnerable to abuse, the many checks and balances that it employed kept it healthy and vibrant. From its crude beginnings during the time of Matilda, Countess of Tuscany in the 11th century, through to the end of the Quattrocento, the guild oriented government of Florence served its citizens well.