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39-532: Podestà ( Italian: [podeˈsta] ), also potestate or podesta in English, was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of central and northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages . Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a city-state, the counterpart to similar positions in other cities that went by other names, e.g. rettori ('rectors'). In

78-600: A podestà . Concerning Rome , with a history of civic violence, Gregorovius says that "in 1205 the Pope Innocent III changed the form of the civic government; the executive power lying henceforward in the hand of a single senator or podestà , who, directly or indirectly, was appointed by the pope". In Florence after 1180, the chief authority was transferred from the consuls to the podestà , and Milan and other cities were also ruled by these officials. The Republic of Genoa elected its first podestà in 1191,

117-483: A Brescian citizen, to quell the internal unrest that ravaged the capital of the Republic. There were, moreover, podestà in some of the cities of the adjoining Provence in southeastern France. An anonymous writer composed a short guide for the would-be podestà (although it would be unseemly to appear openly to run for the office), Oculus pastoralis , of about 1222; in six simple and brief chapters it guides

156-517: A governor was appointed to head the local government. In larger communes, the podestà was assisted by one or two vice-podestà nominated by the Ministry of Interior , in addition to a board of advisors ( consulta municipale ) nominated either by the local prefect or, in the major cities, by the Ministry of Interior. The decree was in effect from 21 April 1927 until 1945, when the entire system

195-677: A common podestà until 1453, when all Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks . The example of Italy in the matter of podestà was sometimes followed by cities and republics in Northern Europe in the Middle Ages, notably by such as had trade relations with Italy. The officers elected sometimes bore the title of podestà or podestat . Thus in East Frisia , there were podestà identical in name and functions to those of

234-526: A man of foreign birth their chief magistrate, giving him every power, authority and jurisdiction over the city, as well over criminal as over civil causes, and in times of war as well as in times of peace, calling him praetor as being above the others, or podestà , as having every authority and power over the city. Podestà were first more widely appointed by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa when he began to assert

273-412: A recognizable view of Siena and its countryside. In the allegorical representation of Good Government, the prosperous townspeople are trading and dancing in the streets. Beyond the city walls is a lush countryside in which crops are harvested. In the allegory of Bad Government , crime is rampant and diseased citizens roam a crumbling city; the countryside suffers from drought. Many of the frescoes in

312-606: A throne; the Judge reflects the tradition in the Christian Last Judgment to have God or Christ judging the saved on the left and the damned on the right. While classified as medieval or proto (pre)-renaissance art, these paintings show a transition from earlier religious art. Flanking the Allegory are two other paintings on perpendicular walls: Effects of Good Government and Effects of Bad Government . Both these frescoes depict

351-525: Is damaged by Lorenzetti's circular map of the world. Siena was decimated by the Black Death in 1348; approximately half of its population died in the plague. The republic's economy was destroyed and the state quickly declined from its position of prominence in Italy. The Franciscan religious order rose to power in the city. The stagnation over the following centuries meant that while Siena did not develop during

390-425: Is titled in its place, so there is no doubt about what each figure represents. The meaning of this fresco is clear: good government will make the people prosper. The allegory carries a strong social message of the value of the stable republican government of Siena. It combines elements of secular life with references to the importance of religion: Justice resembles Mary, Queen of Heaven, the patron saint of Siena, on

429-523: Is traditionally attributed to Simone Martini , although there is debate on the subject. The wall has circular markings left by the circular wall-mounted (now lost) map of the world by Ambrogio Lorenzetti . Hidden underneath this fresco is the New Fresco, plastered over and partly painted over. This fresco depicts two men standing alongside a town on a hill. The fresco is in poor condition from being painted over and its origin and intent remain unknown. It, also,

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468-759: The Lex Frisionum . According to later tradition, it was Charlemagne who granted the Frisians the title of freemen and permitted them to choose their own podestat or imperial governor from among the chieftains, to organize and lead the defense of two of the three districts of Frisia, in Middle Frisia , from the Flie to the Lauwers and in East Frisia from the Lauwers to the Weser , later

507-647: The Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower in the Edgbaston campus of the University of Birmingham , which was completed in 1908. The upper-story windows of the Palazzo are heavily ornamented trefoil arches, typical of Sienese architecture. The pointed arches of all of the windows are a clear example of Gothic influence. Nearly every major room in the palace contains frescoes. These were unusual for

546-510: The 12th and 13th centuries. This was probably due to their lesser concern (at the time) than other Italians in the affairs of the mainland. Afterwards, in a few cases, the term of office was extended to cover a period of years, or even a lifetime. They were confined in a luxury palace to keep them from being influenced by any of the local families. The architectural arrangement of the Palazzo Pubblico at Siena , built starting in 1297, evokes

585-667: The Countship of Ostfriesland . The Italians probably became aware of the Frisian Potestaat, in Dutch "op poten staan" in English 'on legs standing', like for instance king Henry on his painting (Dutch: potestaat ; German: Potestat ; English: potestate ) during the Sixth Crusade in 1228. According to privileges that were falsely ascribed to the Carolingian era, the potestate

624-775: The Fascist regime. Currently, podestà is the title of mayors in Italian -speaking municipalities of Graubünden in Switzerland , but it is not the case for the Canton of Ticino , which uses the title sindaco (the same currently in use throughout Italy). The term derives from the Latin word potestas ('power'). There is a similar derivation for the Arabic term سلطان sulṭān , originally meaning 'power' or 'authority'; it eventually became

663-528: The Italian republics; sometimes each province had one, and sometimes the federal diet elected a podestà -general for the whole country, the term of office being for a limited period or for life. The concept of a local man empowered to represent the Holy Roman Emperor was also a feature of medieval Frisia . From apocryphal beginnings, important rights were granted or confirmed under the code of law known as

702-534: The Palace, including these, are badly damaged potentially due to salt once stored in the basement of the building. It is theoretically possible that the salts wicked moisture down from the walls, causing the plaster to dry excessively and the frescoes to flake off. Other frescoes include that of Guidoriccio da Fogliano at the siege of Montemassi , located in the Great Council Hall ( Sala del Mappamondo ). The fresco

741-514: The autonomous powers and functions of comuni (municipalities), including elected town councils and mayors . Instead, all comuni , except for Rome , were to be headed by a podestà , an authoritarian mayor with full executive and legislative powers. He was appointed by royal charter (in practice, by the National Fascist Party ) for a renewable five-year term (which could be revoked at any time with immediate effect). In Rome,

780-476: The citizens or by the citizens' representatives, rather like the older consuls (but not collegial). The podestà exercised the supreme power in the city, both in peace and war, and in foreign and domestic matters alike; but their term of office lasted only about a year. In order to avoid the intense strife so common in Italian civic life, it soon became the custom to hire a stranger to fill this position. Venetians were in special demand for this purpose during

819-494: The fifteenth century, podesteria ( Venetian : podestarie ) were one of the intermediate levels of the hierarchical administrative organization, the highest ("provincial") level being the territorio (roughly a modern administrative region). After the other dogal republic, Genoa , was in 1273 granted control of Pera and Galata , commercial suburbs of Constantinople , by the Byzantine emperor, it governed them jointly by

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858-622: The following centuries up to 1918, the term was used to designate the head of the municipal administration, particularly in the Italian-speaking territories of the Austrian Empire . The title was taken up again during the Fascist regime with the same meaning. The podestà 's office, its duration and the residence and the local jurisdiction were called podesteria , especially during the Middle Ages, and in later centuries, more rarely during

897-498: The frescoes. The most famous of the secular frescoes are three panels in the series on government in the Hall of the Nine (also known as Sala della Pace) by Ambrogio Lorenzetti . These frescoes are collectively known as The Allegory of Good and Bad Government . The Allegory of Good Government depicts the personification of Justice as a woman. She gestures to the scales of balance, held by

936-442: The largest figure in the image, a judge located in the center right. The judge is surrounded by additional personifications including Peace, who is represented as a fashionable, white-clad contemporary female figure with elaborate blonde hair . Concordia joins the cords of peace and welfare that she receives from Justice and gives it to the citizens, who pull this rope together to bind the wrist of Sovereignty. Each personified virtue

975-402: The novice through the requirements of the office, the salary, the address of welcome given by the retiring podestà to the new one, the choice of counsellors, the handling of money accounts. The fifth chapter offers some model speeches on public occasions, such as the death of prominent citizens. A final chapter touches upon making war (in a paragraph), and the training of urban officials. In

1014-512: The outwards curve (convex) of the Piazza del Campo , Siena's central square , of which the Palace is the focal point. At the top of this facade is a huge round flat bronze plate [Christogram], the symbol used by Saint Bernardino. It was placed there by the government in 1425 in gratitude to the great preacher, a native Sienese, for his sermons aimed at quelling social and political factionalism and unrest. The campanile or bell tower, Torre del Mangia ,

1053-402: The personification of Wisdom floating over her throne. On the viewer's left, a convicted criminal is beheaded; on the right, figures receive the rewards of justice. At Justice's feet, the personification of Virtue, also, unusually for the time, portrayed as a female figure, passes virtue among 24 faithfully rendered and recognizable images of prominent male citizens of Siena. The men face towards

1092-420: The rights that his Imperial position gave him over the cities of northern Italy; at the second imperial diet at Roncaglia , November 1158, Frederick appointed in several major cities imperial podestà "as if having imperial power in that place". The elected consuls, which Frederick had claimed the right to ratify, began to designate directly. The business of the podestà was to enforce imperial rights. From

1131-419: The sixteenth century. The officials sent by the Italian republics to administer the affairs of dependent cities were also sometimes called podestà . Into the 20th century the cities of Trento and Trieste gave the name of podestà to their chief magistrate . The Fascist regime created its own version of the podestà figure. In February 1926, Mussolini's Senate issued a decree which abolished

1170-543: The start, this was very unpopular, and their often arbitrary behaviour was a factor in bringing about the formation of the Lombard League and the uprising against Frederick in 1167. Although the Emperor's experiment was short-lived, the podestà soon became important and common in northern Italy, making their appearance in most communes around the year 1200, with an essential difference. These officials were now appointed by

1209-413: The structure is an example of Italian medieval architecture with Gothic influences. The lower story is stone while the upper crenellated stories are made of brick. At a time when brick as a finished face was rare, Siena preferred it to stone because it was cheaper; this allowed architects to use more expensive detailing elsewhere. The facade of the palace is curved slightly inwards (concave) to reflect

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1248-690: The struggle against the count of Holland. The title became well known outside of Friesland only with the installation of Albrecht of Saxony as hereditary potestate in 1498; the Frisians chose Jancko Douwama as their imperial stadtholder (1522). Central Italy Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 759075751 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Fri, 29 Nov 2024 05:33:27 GMT Palazzo Pubblico The outside of

1287-591: The thirteenth century in Florence, in Orvieto (1251) and some other cities, a capitano del popolo ( lit.   ' captain of the people ' ) was chosen to look after the interests of the lower classes (to this day, the heads of government of the little independent republic of San Marino are still called " capitani "). In other ways the power of the podestà was reduced—they were confined more and more to judicial functions until they disappeared early in

1326-493: The time in that they were commissioned by the governing body of the city, rather than by the Church or by a religious fraternity. They are also unusual in that many of them depict secular subjects instead of the religious subjects which are overwhelmingly typical of Italian art of this era. Although these frescoes are secular in origin and overall theme, the ideas are expressed within a religious framework: scriptural verses are quoted on

1365-698: The title of the person holding power. The first documented usage of podestà was in Bologna in 1151, when it was applied to Guido di Ranieri di Sasso of Canossa, brought in from Faenza to be rettore e podestà , noted in numerous documents. Leander Albertus gives the particulars: The citizens, seeing that there often arose among them quarrels and altercations, whether from favoritism or friendship, from envy or hatred that one had against another, by which their republic suffered great harm, loss and detriment; therefore, they decided, after much deliberation, to provide against these disorders. And thus they began to create

1404-562: The uneasy relation of the commune with the podestà , who in Siena's case was a disinterested nobleman at the head of the judiciary. It provided a self-contained lodging round its own interior court for the podestà , separate but housed within the Palazzo Pubblico where the councillors and their committee of nine habitually met. During the later part of the twelfth and the whole of the thirteenth century, most Italian cities were governed by

1443-472: Was abandoned with the return to democracy. Literally, this derived word means the office of a podestà or its term, but podesteria can also designate a district administered by a podestà within a larger state. In the Domini di Terraferma that the dogal Republic of Venice gradually established in the basin of the river Po, annexing various former principalities and self-governing cities, mostly in

1482-530: Was built between 1325 and 1344; its crown was designed by the painter Lippo Memmi . The tower was designed to be taller than the tower in neighboring rival Florence ; at the time it was the tallest structure in Italy. It was fitted with a mechanical clock during the mid-14th century. Its design has been used as the basis for several other campaniles, including the Dock Tower in Grimsby , England, constructed in 1852 and

1521-606: Was chosen by council and he must be able to slay knights. Apocryphal historical writings mention the potestate as early as the Viking Age . The only potestates chosen to lead Friesland between the Vlie and Lauwers were Juw Juwinga (1396) and Juw Dekema (1494), both were chosen by the Schieringers . However, in 1399 the districts of Westergo and Oostergo elected potestates, Haring Harinxma and Sjoerd Wiarda respectively, in

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