remacy of
the Empire to the need of looking beyond its own municipal institutions,
each city in the twelfth century sought to introduce such a system into
the already existing machinery of the burgh as should secure its
independence and place the government in the hands of its citizens. But
the passing of bad laws, or the non-observance of wise regulations, or,
again, the passions of individuals and parties, soon disturbed the
equilibrium established in these little communities. Desire for more
power than their due prompted one section of the burghers to violence.
The love of independence, or simple insubordination, drove another
portion to resistance. Matters were further complicated by resident or
neighboring nobles. Then followed the wars of factions, proscriptions,
and exiles. Having banished their rivals, the party in power for the
time being remodeled the institutions of the republic to suit their own
particular interest. Meanwhile the opposition in exile fomented every
element of discontent within the city, which this short-sighted policy
was sure to foster. Sudden revolutions were the result, attended in most
cases by massacres consequent upon the victorious return of the outlaws.
To the action of these peccant humors--_umori_ is the word applied by
the elder Florentine historians to the troubles attendant upon
factions--must be added the jealousy of neighboring cities, the cupidity
of intriguing princes, the partisanship of the Guelfs and Ghibellines,
the treason and the egotism of mercenary generals, and the false foreign
policy which led the Italians to rely for aid on France or Germany or
Spain. Little by little, under the prolonged action of these disturbing
forces, each republic in turn became weaker, more confused in policy,
more mistrustful of itself and its own citizens, more subdivided into
petty but ineradicable factions, until at last it fell a prey either to
some foreign potentate, or to the Church, or else to an ambitious family
among its members. The small scale of the Italian commonwealths, taken
singly, favored rapid change, and gave an undue value to distinguished
wealth or unscrupulous ability among the burghers. The oscillation
between democracy and aristocracy and back again, the repetition of
exhausting discords, and the demoralizing influences of occasional
despotism, so broke the spirit of each commonwealth that in the end the
citizens forgot their ancient zeal for liberty, and were glad to