534 claudio povolo
by Venice in 1550, was later unjustly accused by the nobility of having
taken part in the Malo uprising. Pasqualin, acting as the community’s law-
yer, had defended certain rights enjoyed by Malo since the beginning of
the 16th century, which the urban noblemen who owned large properties
in village had cunningly brought into question. the dispute lasted for sev-
eral years, and, in the end, the community’s legal claims based on custom
were defeated by the nobility’s legal stratagems. bortolamio Pasqualin,
like other like-minded men in these years, saw that the ancient legal sys-
tem based on tradition was no longer able to reflect the complexity of the
rural world, subject as it was by tradition to the city and the superiority of
the city’s statutes. it was necessary to take action in order to recalibrate
the balance of power with the aristocracy and to obtain from Venice new
legislation that was not rooted in the traditional relationship between city
and countryside.48
The Legal System in the Venetian State
with the formation of the stato da mar, first, and then following the rapid
territorial expansion on the mainland in the 15th century, the legal and
political structures of the republic of Venice became increasingly varied
and complex. in the numerous urban centers along the jagged adriatic
coast and on islands in the Mediterranean local statutes, customs, and
roman law mingled with Venetian law and the discretion (arbitrium) of
Venetian representatives in various ways depending on the situation. but
the legal situation in the extensive mainland territories was characterized
from the beginning by a notable separateness from Venice. in the large
urban centers of the Veneto and Lombardy plains, the presence of politi-
cal and legal institutions that were deeply rooted in history and tradition,
and given legitimacy by the local statutes that Venice had reconfirmed,
was also guaranteed by the ius comune and by the colleges of jurists and
judges that turned to that law whenever it was necessary to supplement
local statutes. there was no trace of Venetian law in any of these urban
centers, large or small, and the representatives periodically sent from Ven-
ice were firmly required to respect the local statutes and the spirit of the
roman law of Justinian.49
48 for these events, see claudio Povolo, L’uomo che pretendeva l’onore. Storia di Borto-
lamio Pasqualin da Malo (1502–1591) (Venice, 2010), pp. 21–30.
49 claudio Povolo, “un sistema giuridico repubblicano: Venezia e il suo stato territo-
riale (secoli XV–XViii),” in italo birocchi and antonello Mattone, eds., Il diritto patrio tra
diritto comune e codificazione (secoli XVI–XIX) (rome, 2006), pp. 335–53.