A signoria (pronounced as /it/) was the governing authority in many of the Italian city-states during the Medieval and Renaissance periods.[1] The word signoria comes from signore (pronounced as /it/), or "lord", an abstract noun meaning (roughly) "government", "governing authority", de facto "sovereignty", "lordship"; : signorie.
In Italian history the rise of the signoria is a phase often associated with the decline of the medieval commune system of government and the rise of the dynastic state. In this context the word signoria (here to be understood as "lordly power") is used in opposition to the institution of the commune or city republic.
Contemporary observers and modern historians see the rise of the signoria as a reaction to the failure of the comuni to maintain law-and-order and suppress party strife and civil discord. In the anarchic conditions that often prevailed in medieval Italian city-states, people looked to strong men to restore order and disarm the feuding elites.
In times of anarchy or crisis, cities sometimes offered the signoria to individuals perceived as strong enough to save the state. For example, the Tuscan state of Pisa offered the signoria to Charles VIII of France in the hope that he would protect the independence of Pisa from its long term enemy Florence. Similarly, Siena offered the signoria to Cesare Borgia.
The composition and specific functions of the signoria varied from city to city. In some states (such as Verona under the Della Scala family or Florence in the days of Cosimo de Medici and Lorenzo the Magnificent), the polity was what we would term today a one-party state in which the dominant party had vested the signoria of the state in a single family or dynasty.
In Florence, the arrangement was unofficial, as it was not constitutionally formalized before the Medici were expelled from the city in 1494.
In other states (such as the Visconti of Milan), the dynasty's right to the signoria was a formally recognized part of the commune's constitution, which had been "ratified" by the people and recognized by the pope or the Holy Roman Empire.
The term is also used to refer to certain small feudal holdings in Sicily similar to manorial lordships and, like them, were established in Norman times. With the abolition of feudalism in Sicily in 1812, some of the holdings became baronies. More often, a barony consisted of several signorie.
In a few states, the word was sometimes used to refer to the constitutional government of a republic rather than the power exercised by an individual monarch or noble family.
For example, the word was sometimes used in Renaissance times to refer to the government of the Republics of Florence or of Venice, as in Shakespeare's Othello in which Othello says:
"Let him do his spite:
My services which I have done the signiory
Shall out-tongue his complaints"
– (Act one, scene one)
Occasionally, the word referred to specific organs or functions of the state. The signoria in the Republic of Florence was the highest executive organ, and the Signoria of the Republic of Venice was mainly a judicial body.
| City | Family | Period | Allegiance | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grimaldi | 12871612 | Guelph | Gained independence from Genoa in 1287. Titled Princes of Monaco since 1612. | ||
| Della Torre | 12591277 | Guelph | Deposed by Ghibelline party, led by Visconti. | ||
| Visconti | 12771302 | Ghibelline | Took over Milan after Battle of Desio in 1277. Deposed by Della Torre in 1302. | ||
| Della Torre | 13021311 | Guelph | Deposed and exiled by Emperor Henry VII. | ||
| Visconti | 13111395 | Ghibelline | Re-enthroned by Henry VII in 1311. Titled Dukes of Milan from 1395. | ||
| Bonacolsi | 12721328 | Variable | Overthrown in a revolt backed by Gonzaga in 1328. | ||
| Gonzaga | 13281433 | Ghibelline | Titled Margraves of Mantua from 1433. | ||
| Della Scala | 12821387 | Ghibelline | Overthrown by a Visconti-backed revolt in 1387. | ||
| Da Camino | 12831312 | Guelph | Overthrown in a conspiracy in 1312. | ||
| Da Carrara | 13181405 | Guelph | Overthrown by the Republic of Venice in 1405. | ||
| Este | 12091471 | Guelph | Titled Dukes of Ferrara from 1471. | ||
| 13361471 | Titled Dukes of Modena and Reggio from 1471. | ||||
| Pio | 13361599 | Unclear | Titled Lords of Carpi (1336-1527) and Sassuolo (1499-1599)[2] | ||
| Pepoli | 13371350 | Guelph | Overthrown by Visconti army in 1350. | ||
| Bentivoglio | 14011506 | Ghibelline | Overthrown by Pope Julius II in 1506. | ||
| Da Polenta | 12751441 | Guelph | Overthrown and exiled by the Republic of Venice in 1441. | ||
| Ordelaffi | 12951359 13761480 | Ghibelline | Declined due to conflicts inside city. Peacefully deposed in 1480. | ||
| Riario | 14801499 | Guelph | De facto a satellite of Milan from 1488, under regent Caterina Sforza. Overthrown by Cesare Borgia in 1499. | ||
| Borgia | 14991503 | Guelph | Ruled over all Romagna, with Cesare as Duke of Romagna. | ||
| Ordelaffi | 15031504 | Ghibelline | Line extinct in 1504. | ||
| Malatesta | 12851445 | Guelph | Overthrown in a coup led by the Sforza in 1445. | ||
| 12951500 | Overthrown by Cesare Borgia in 1500. | ||||
| 13781465 | Line extinct in 1465. | ||||
| Da Montefeltro | 12131234 | Ghibelline | Titled Counts of Urbino (the Dukes) from 1234. | ||
| Lucca | Quartigiani | 13081316 | Guelph | Overthrown in a coup led by the Antelminelli in 1316. | |
| Antelminelli | 13161328 | Ghibelline | Overthrown by Guelph party in 1328. | ||
| Guinigi | 14001430 | Guelph | Deposed by the restoration of the Republic in 1430. | ||
| Medici | 14341494 15121527 15301532 | Guelph | Titled Dukes of Florence from 1532. | ||
| Della Gherardesca | 13161347 | Ghibelline | Deposed and replaced by the Gambacorta family in 1347. | ||
| Gambacorta | 13471392 | Guelph | Overthrown by a conspiracy in 1392. | ||
| Appiano | 13921399 | Unclear | Overthrown by the Visconti in 1399. | ||
| Visconti | 13991406 | Ghibelline | Overthrown by the Republic of Florence in 1406. | ||
| Petrucci | 14871525 | Ghibelline | Peacefully deposed by republican institutions in 1525. |