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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: PIG-POL |
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PODESTA (Lat. potestas, power) , the name given during the later middle ages to a high official in many Italian cities. Podestas or rectors were first appointed by the emperor Frederick I. when about 1158 he began to assert his Imperial rights over the cities of northern Italy. Their business was to enforce these rights; from the first they were very unpopular, and their PODIUM arbitrary behaviour was a factor in bringing about the formation of the Lombard league and the rising against Frederick in 1167. Although the emperor's experiment was short-lived podestas soon became general in northern Italy, making their appearance in most communes about 1200. These officials, however, were now appointed by the citizens or by their representatives. They exercised the supreme power in the city, both in peace and war, both in foreign and domestic matters, but they only held office for a period of a year. In order to avoid the intestine strife so common in Italian civic life, it soon became the custom to select a stranger to fill this position. Venetians were in special
During the later part of the 12th and the whole of the' 13th century most of the Italian cities were governed by podestas. Concerning Rome, Gregorovius says that in 1205 " the pope
pope
chief
Milan and other cities were also ruled by these officials. There were, moreover, podestas in some of the cities of Provence
special
The officials who were sent by the Italian republics to ad-minister the affairs of dependent cities were sometimes called podestas. At the present day the cities of Trent and Trieste give the name of podesta to their chief
magistrate .The example of Italy in the matter of podestas 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 thus elected sometimes bore the title of podesta or podestat. Thus in East
Lists of the Italian podestas are given in Stokvis, Manuel d'histoire; vol. iii. (Leiden, 1889). See also W. F. Butler, The Lombard Communes (1906). End of Article: PODESTA (Lat. potestas, power) If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
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