Ambitions Realized and Thwarted (1150-1250) - Culture and Institutions in Town and Countryside - Taxes, Inventories, and Other Mechanisms of Control

7 important questions on Ambitions Realized and Thwarted (1150-1250) - Culture and Institutions in Town and Countryside - Taxes, Inventories, and Other Mechanisms of Control

In what sense where Northern Italian cities republican?

They were republics in the sense that a high percentage of their adult male population participated in their governance, but they were also dictatorial.

What did the Northern Italian cities do to feed themselves?

To feed themselves, they prohibited the export of grain while commanding the peasants in their contado to bring them a certain amount of grain by a certain date each year.

What role did city governments have in growing things?

City governments told the peasants which crops to grow and how many times per year they should plow the land. They controlled commerce as well.
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How did Italian city-state governments do compared to others?

Italian city-state governments outdid England, Sicily, and France in their bureaucracy and efficiency.
While kingdoms were still taxing by "hearths," Italian communes devised taxes based on a census (catasto) of property.

Why two main needs of the commune were not met? What alternative did they find?

  • But even efficient methods of taxation did not bring in enough money to support the two main needs of the commune: paying its officials and, above all, waging war.
  • To meet their high military expenses, the communes created state loans, some voluntary, others forced.

What was the solution for the the nobles' need for money?

The nobles' need for money coincided with the interests of the peasantry, whose numbers were expanding. The solution was the extension of farmland. By the middle of the century, isolated and sporadic attempts to bring new land into cultivation had become regular and coordinated.

How did peasant men gain more control?

  • Labor services and dues had to be recalculated, and peasants and their lords often turned services and dues into money rents, payable once a year.
  • With this change, peasant men gained some control over their plots - they could sell them, will them to their sons, or even designate a small portion for their daughters.
  • However, for these privileges they had either to pay extra taxes or, like communes, join together to buy their collective liberty for a high price, paid out over many years to their lord.

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