9 From One Conflict to Another (13th-14th Centuries)

The Sources of Taxation in Bologna in the 14th Century

“…This explains why Bologna was ruled for fifty years by various sorts of signori: lieutenants of the pope, as with cardinal Bertrand du Pouget, then by a series of four vicars after 1360; the leaders of the main faction, the Pepoli; or the captains of the Visconti armies. The concentration of powers in the hands of few people seems a reasonable explanation for new fiscal policies, possibly more unfair to the citizens who benefited from it under the commune (Milani, 2018). But are the differences that clear-cut?…”

“…I focused on the chronology and typology of sources and taxpayers, and on the nature of the documents available, from 1280 to 1402. The 1280s was a period of consolidation of a popular regime; 1402 marked the end of its distant successor, the second commune (Milani, 2018). Between them, a wide variety of regimes existed, often briefly: collegial governments (first commune up to 1329, second commune from 1376 onwards), local signoria under the Pepoli (1337-1350), papal vicariates (1329( -1335( and 1360( -1376( ) and Milanese rule (1350( -1360( , 1402.…”