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Commune of Rome
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Commune of Rome
The Commune of Rome (Italian: Comune di Roma) was a semi-autonomous, citizen-led political regime established in the city of the same name, whose emergence can be included within the process of constitution of urban communes in Northern Italy (11th-12th centuries). As a political-administrative entity, the Commune of Rome, with its physical headquarters on the Capitoline Hill, was made up of governing and representative bodies (Arengum or Parlamentum, Senate and Council), justice and finance whose jurisdiction presumably included, from north to south, from the Paglia bridge in Radicofani to Ceprano and, from east to west, from Carsoli to the coastline.
After two years of conflict with Rome (1141-1143), neighbouring Tivoli had finally been subjected to the authority of Pope Innocent II (1130-1143), who nevertheless forbade the Romans to tear down its walls or to take reprisals against the Tiburtines. For this reason, between August and October 1143, the Roman citizens, encouraged by the reformist preacher Arnold of Brescia, rebelled against the then Pope, Lucius II and proceeded to renew the old Senate on the Capitoline Hill. This episode, known as the renovatio Senatus, is considered the founding act of the Commune of Rome, but its formation nevertheless responds to a process that began in the 11th century. In fact, the Roman quest for autonomy outside papal authority has as its earliest references the prominent presence of laici potenti in the public courts of the 11th century, the emergence of courts of justice specialized in the resolution of professional disputes, the granting of an important commercial privilege to the Abbey of Monte Cassino in 1127 by six Roman citizens acting on behalf of the city and, above all, the configuration of an armed militia composed of members of noble families that acted independently of papal authority. In this sense, the citizen nobility gathered in arms against Tivoli forms a key element to understand the evolution of the Commune of Rome, which is nourished by its cadres from the revolt of 1143 onwards.
From its foundation until 1188, the Commune of Rome enjoyed almost complete autonomy from the Papacy, with which it came to dispute its lordships in Latium (Tivoli, Albano Laziale, Tuscolo) based on a policy of communal expansion, as well as the control of cereal production between Viterbo and the Tyrrhenian Sea, the imposition of taxes, the administration of justice in the territories of Sabina, Tuscia and Campagna e Marittima and even the power to consecrate emperors, regardless of the final decision of the Germanic claimants.
In 1188, the Commune of Rome reached an agreement with Pope Clement III (1187–1191) by which it returned to the pontiff some of the powers lost since 1143 (the right to mint coins, royalties, etc.) and also undertook to respect cardinals, clerics and visitors, to return the revenues and properties of the churches previously plundered, to perform military service to the pontiff and to swear allegiance to him as lord of the city. The commune, for its part, obtained from the Papacy not only official recognition of its existence and its territorial aspirations over Tuscolo, but also reparations, donations and financial contributions.
In 1191, following a popular revolt demanding communal autonomy from the Papacy, the Commune of Rome saw its system of government modified, represented by the Senate, through the election of a single senator; a collegiate senatorial magistracy, controlled by representatives of opposing aristocratic factions, which could be compared, in a certain way, to that of consul and/or podestà in the rest of the communes of northern Italy. From then on, the Senate began to form a subordinate council, which would eventually split into a general council, composed of the caporioni and the consuls of the Arts of Rome, and a special council, of more restricted composition. Likewise, the services that initially depended on the authority of the Senate began to organize themselves autonomously.
Exceptionally, although notably noticeably, between 1198 and 1205 Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) appointed himself a medianus; a figure whose role was to elect a senator from among the Guelph and/or Ghibelline families who would remain loyal to the pontiff. Such interference would on more than one occasion provoke the noble families to revolt whenever the leadership of the Commune fell to one faction or another, so much so that the split into two opposing parties made the instability of the political environment evident.
While the historian Paolo Brozzi paints an accurate picture of the Roman revolt of 1234, the causes of the revolt are unknown. However, it is noted that it was led by Senator Luca Savelli, his collaborators Pietro Parenzo and Giovanni Cenci, and the merchant classes in response to the poor relations between the Commune and Pope Gregory IX. The demands of the popolo grasso were to extend the communal jurisdiction to Anagni, Segni, Velletri, Viterbo and Montalto to the detriment of the Papacy and to annul the peace of 1188 in order to recover powers such as the free election of the Senate, the minting of coins or the right to collect taxes. Having requested military assistance against the Romans, Frederick II of Hohenstaufen came to the aid of Gregory IX and together they finally defeated the communal troops at Viterbo.
The implications of the revolt of 1234 ended with the restitution to the Papacy of all the territorial conquests made by the Commune, the liberation of the prisoners, the payment of compensation due for the sacking of St. John Lateran and the cardinal's houses, the recognition of the privilege of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction and the tax immunity of the Roman churches and the promise not to harass pilgrims or clerics and to be at peace with the emperor and with the cities of Campagna e Marittima, Sabina, etc. However, despite the considerable obligations demanded by the Pope, he for his part renounced the right to freely elect the senators of the corporation, the right to mint coins and the collection of gabelles, so that by this act the papal authority implicitly returned and recognized the powers for which the Commune had risen up against its lord.
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Commune of Rome
The Commune of Rome (Italian: Comune di Roma) was a semi-autonomous, citizen-led political regime established in the city of the same name, whose emergence can be included within the process of constitution of urban communes in Northern Italy (11th-12th centuries). As a political-administrative entity, the Commune of Rome, with its physical headquarters on the Capitoline Hill, was made up of governing and representative bodies (Arengum or Parlamentum, Senate and Council), justice and finance whose jurisdiction presumably included, from north to south, from the Paglia bridge in Radicofani to Ceprano and, from east to west, from Carsoli to the coastline.
After two years of conflict with Rome (1141-1143), neighbouring Tivoli had finally been subjected to the authority of Pope Innocent II (1130-1143), who nevertheless forbade the Romans to tear down its walls or to take reprisals against the Tiburtines. For this reason, between August and October 1143, the Roman citizens, encouraged by the reformist preacher Arnold of Brescia, rebelled against the then Pope, Lucius II and proceeded to renew the old Senate on the Capitoline Hill. This episode, known as the renovatio Senatus, is considered the founding act of the Commune of Rome, but its formation nevertheless responds to a process that began in the 11th century. In fact, the Roman quest for autonomy outside papal authority has as its earliest references the prominent presence of laici potenti in the public courts of the 11th century, the emergence of courts of justice specialized in the resolution of professional disputes, the granting of an important commercial privilege to the Abbey of Monte Cassino in 1127 by six Roman citizens acting on behalf of the city and, above all, the configuration of an armed militia composed of members of noble families that acted independently of papal authority. In this sense, the citizen nobility gathered in arms against Tivoli forms a key element to understand the evolution of the Commune of Rome, which is nourished by its cadres from the revolt of 1143 onwards.
From its foundation until 1188, the Commune of Rome enjoyed almost complete autonomy from the Papacy, with which it came to dispute its lordships in Latium (Tivoli, Albano Laziale, Tuscolo) based on a policy of communal expansion, as well as the control of cereal production between Viterbo and the Tyrrhenian Sea, the imposition of taxes, the administration of justice in the territories of Sabina, Tuscia and Campagna e Marittima and even the power to consecrate emperors, regardless of the final decision of the Germanic claimants.
In 1188, the Commune of Rome reached an agreement with Pope Clement III (1187–1191) by which it returned to the pontiff some of the powers lost since 1143 (the right to mint coins, royalties, etc.) and also undertook to respect cardinals, clerics and visitors, to return the revenues and properties of the churches previously plundered, to perform military service to the pontiff and to swear allegiance to him as lord of the city. The commune, for its part, obtained from the Papacy not only official recognition of its existence and its territorial aspirations over Tuscolo, but also reparations, donations and financial contributions.
In 1191, following a popular revolt demanding communal autonomy from the Papacy, the Commune of Rome saw its system of government modified, represented by the Senate, through the election of a single senator; a collegiate senatorial magistracy, controlled by representatives of opposing aristocratic factions, which could be compared, in a certain way, to that of consul and/or podestà in the rest of the communes of northern Italy. From then on, the Senate began to form a subordinate council, which would eventually split into a general council, composed of the caporioni and the consuls of the Arts of Rome, and a special council, of more restricted composition. Likewise, the services that initially depended on the authority of the Senate began to organize themselves autonomously.
Exceptionally, although notably noticeably, between 1198 and 1205 Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) appointed himself a medianus; a figure whose role was to elect a senator from among the Guelph and/or Ghibelline families who would remain loyal to the pontiff. Such interference would on more than one occasion provoke the noble families to revolt whenever the leadership of the Commune fell to one faction or another, so much so that the split into two opposing parties made the instability of the political environment evident.
While the historian Paolo Brozzi paints an accurate picture of the Roman revolt of 1234, the causes of the revolt are unknown. However, it is noted that it was led by Senator Luca Savelli, his collaborators Pietro Parenzo and Giovanni Cenci, and the merchant classes in response to the poor relations between the Commune and Pope Gregory IX. The demands of the popolo grasso were to extend the communal jurisdiction to Anagni, Segni, Velletri, Viterbo and Montalto to the detriment of the Papacy and to annul the peace of 1188 in order to recover powers such as the free election of the Senate, the minting of coins or the right to collect taxes. Having requested military assistance against the Romans, Frederick II of Hohenstaufen came to the aid of Gregory IX and together they finally defeated the communal troops at Viterbo.
The implications of the revolt of 1234 ended with the restitution to the Papacy of all the territorial conquests made by the Commune, the liberation of the prisoners, the payment of compensation due for the sacking of St. John Lateran and the cardinal's houses, the recognition of the privilege of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction and the tax immunity of the Roman churches and the promise not to harass pilgrims or clerics and to be at peace with the emperor and with the cities of Campagna e Marittima, Sabina, etc. However, despite the considerable obligations demanded by the Pope, he for his part renounced the right to freely elect the senators of the corporation, the right to mint coins and the collection of gabelles, so that by this act the papal authority implicitly returned and recognized the powers for which the Commune had risen up against its lord.
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