L’oro dei tiranni: i vicariati venali di Enrico VII e la signoria cittadina nell’Italia padana

This paper offers a pragmatic analysis of the assignment of imperial vicars’ office by Henry VII to several “signori” in Northern Italy. The contribution leaves aside the issue of vicariates as a legitimation factor for Italian seigniory, which has been at the core of the Italian historiographical debate for a long time; instead, it focuses on the real meaning this charge assignment assumed for the political actors of the time. The imperial grant of a vicariate was part of office venality practices widespread in most of late medieval Europe and did not involve the cancellation of service duties towards the sovereign by people receiving the office. Even for the “signori”, the vicariate turned out to be a weak factor in the construction process of urban rule. Finally, for the citizens, in most cases this experience brought about an increase both in taxation and in the presence of imperial troops.