This book examines the debates on Republican and Signorial Renaissance political systems in Renaissance Italy. The period between the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries saw significant discussion in Italy about the two different political models of republicanism and seignorialism, reaching a climax at the end of the Trecento when the most influential scholars of Florence and Venice began to attack the despotism imposed on Milan by the Visconti. The arguments put forward by both sides were largely predictable: supporters of a Republic argued that liberty - represented by an elective government and independent from foreign powers - was of greatest importance, while those in favour of seignorialism instead claimed that they brought order, unity, and social peace.
