Suchergebnisse

This essay examines the political destiny and function in government of the civic institutions and élites of formerly independent urban polities once they had settled into the new political context of the Italian regional states in the fifteenth century. Research conducted from the 1970s onwards has established the greater weakness of Padua's municipal institutions and élite in relation to Venice, as compared to the experience of many other cities of the Terraferma dominion. The essay focuses on the profile of issues connected with land in the Paduan civic council's activity in the later fifteenth century, also seeking to gauge the extent of its autonomy in policy-making and its perception of its role, especially in relation to the action of Venetian authority. The archival material used concerns both the activity of the Paduan council and the more general conduct of government in Venice and Padua.

ENGLISH: The genesis of this essay collection is explained. There is a brief analysis of the contents of the twenty essays it contains. Four of them are by Benjamin G. Kohl himself. The others, by authors from the USA, Britain and Italy, deal with issues of Venetian and Veneto history – political, social, artistic – close to the interests of the historian commemorated by the volume. / ITALIANO: Si dà conto della genesi di questa miscellanea di studi e si espone brevemente il contenuto dei 20 saggi che la costituiscono: quattro di essi sono dovuti a Benjamin G. Kohl, e gli altri sono dedicati da studiosi inglesi, americani e italiani a tematiche di storia politica, sociale e artistica del Veneto e di Venezia, vicine alla sensibilità dello studioso americano scomparso.

Benjamin G. Kohl (1938-2010) taught at Vassar College from 1966 till his retirement as Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities in 2001. His doctoral research at The Johns Hopkins University was directed by Frederic C. Lane, and his principal historical interests focused on northern Italy during the Renaissance, especially on Padua and Venice. His scholarly production includes the volumes Padua under the Carrara, 1318-1405 (1998), and Culture and Politics in Early Renaissance Padua (2001), and the online database The Rulers of Venice, 1332-1524 (2009). The database is eloquent testimony of his priority attention to historical sources and to their accessibility, and also of his enthusiasm for collaboration and sharing among scholars.