liturgies of violence 517
the distinctiveness of the jurisdictional state was manifested most fully
in its subjects’ ability to turn to the ruler to ensure that their rights were
respected.11 thus, Venetian subjects from every part of the stato da terra
or the stato da mar could turn to the Most serene republic to ask for the
justice that all too often was not assured either by their local magistrates
or by the resident Venetian representatives.12
everywhere, ecclesiastical, seigneurial, and urban jurisdictions were
each expressed in various courts, each with differing competencies. eccle-
siastical civil jurisdiction was quite broad, as in the case of matrimonial
or inheritance suits, particularly those involving questions of legitimacy.13
the ambiguous distinction between crime and sin expanded the juris-
diction of ecclesiastical courts to such a degree that many crimes were
defined as “mixed jurisdiction,”14 that is, they could be adjudicated either
by secular or ecclesiastical courts, depending on the choice of the parties
who filed the complaints.15
where cities had not perceptibly extended their influence, as in friuli,
a dense web of feudal jurisdictions had become established, each juris-
diction with courts exercising very broad powers in all civil and criminal
matters. in the cities of the plains, which also boasted dominion over their
respective countrysides, there were numerous courts exercising a wide
variety of civil jurisdictions.16 the large urban centers were distinguished
by the presence of courts that had criminal jurisdiction extending over a
wide territory. even if they were presided over by the Venetian patrician
appointed as podestà and the judges who made up his corte pretoria, the
law applied was that of the local statutes. and in some large cities, such
as Verona and Vicenza, alongside the podestà and his court sat judges
elected by the city councils.17
11 c. nubola and a. würgler eds., Suppliche e “gravamina”. Politica, amministrazione,
giustizia in Europa (secoli XIV–XVIII) (bologna, 2002), passim.
12 claudio Povolo, Introduzione, in claudio Povolo et al., eds., Il processo a Paolo Orgiano
(1605–1607) (rome, 2003), pp. xxxiv–xxxviii.
13 brambilla, Alle origini, pp. 32–33.
14 cohen, The Crossroads, pp. 17–18.
15 Marco bellabarba, La giustizia nell’Italia moderna (bari, 2008), pp. 61–67; Maureen
Mulholland, Introduction, in Maureen Mulholland and brian Pullan, eds., Judicial Tribunals
in England and Europe (Manchester, 2003), pp. 4–5.
16 edward Muir, “governments and bureaucracies,” in guido ruggiero, ed., A Compan-
ion to the Worlds of the Renaissance (Malden, 2007), pp. 107–12.
17 claudio Povolo, L’intrigo dell’onore: Poteri e istituzioni nella Repubblica di Venezia tra
Cinque e Seicento (Verona, 1997), pp. 103–06, 273–76.