Although there was no single Italian state, there was nonetheless a long back-and-forth between Italian intellectuals on the miglior lingua, or "Better Language." I actually wrote this answer about a month ago explaining how Modern Standard Italian is based on a modernized version of Tuscan dialect because of the enormous, lasting, and unquestioned popularity of Tuscan literature. That answer formed the basis of this longer discussion framing the same question in the context of the Venetian dialect and its use relative to Tuscan.

Of course, this shouldn't discourage other answers and/or discussion, including discussions about my overenthusiastic use of semicolons.