How did Italian republics of the Medieval/Early Modern era like Venice and Genoa govern themselves? How were leaders elected, and who was allowed to vote?

by Kumquats_indeed

I imagine that the answers to these questions might differ significantly depending on the specific city and time period, so even a snapshot of one place in a particular time would be great. And if y'all have any suggestions for further reading on the subject that is somewhat approachable for non-academic, I would really appreciate it as well. Thanks in advance!

Zwatrem

Venice was quite a complicated case.

  • All the noblemen and noblewomen over 25 years old participated in the Great Council. There were between 1000-2000 people, depending on the specific period.
  • Power was therefore hereditary. There were offices reserved for nobles and offices for citizens. Nobles had almost all the power in the Republic, but ordinary citizens could still reach very high positions. The 'Cancellier Grande' was the highest position for a non-noble.
  • The Great Council voted primarily on matters of great relevance. Normally, the power was exercised by smaller but still very powerful institutions.
  • The 3 powers (Legislative, Executive, Judiciary) were not divided perfectly between institutions, but a lot of institutions had both executive and judiciary powers, for example.

It's so complicated that making a summary doesn't really make justice to their power structure. So I'll just leave here THE link for it: http://www.veneziamuseo.it/REPUBBLICA/a_rep_org_cost.htm

Here you will find essentialy everything with a detail that I didn't find anywhere else.