542 claudio povolo
however, did not entail an explicit affirmation of the preeminence of
Venetian law over the ius comune, despite the fact that governing praxis,
particularly in some sectors, underwent important changes.61
in this way, Venetian law reached the end of the republic’s long life
festooned with ideological and mythical notions, but without the substan-
tial legitimacy that alone could have bestowed on it the historical role of
the law of the entire state. inextricably linked to the ruling class of the
lagoon, which for centuries ruled the republic with great skill but also
with a progressive and lucid awareness of the chronic weaknesses of their
political prerogatives and status, the Venetian legal system could only find
a raison d’être by turning to its past and to its myths.
at the end of its life, the republic was an exceptionally fragmented
state. on the one side was Venice, the great ruling city, endowed with
political privileges; on the other were its domains on the mainland and
the sea, which were extremely heterogeneous (large and small cities, rural
communities, ecclesiastical and seigneurial jurisdictions.. .) and whose
ruling classes were deprived of any opportunities for real political partici-
pation, yet at the same time protective of the political privileges granted
to them during earlier centuries. of course the true balance of power
tipped decisively in favor of the ruling city and its most important courts.
but the pieces of the legal story, traced ambiguously through hierarchies
that are not clearly definable, suggest how the activity of governing could
not ignore a governing praxis characterized by mediation and by friend-
ship networks.62 any other route was unfeasible and doomed to failure.
as in 1793, to his great distress, ottavio trento had to find out for himself
while governing the city of bergamo.
61 claudio Povolo, Il sistema, pp. 347–53.
62 claudio Povolo, “the creation of Venetian historiography,” in John Martin and
dennis romano, eds., Venice Reconsidered: The History and Civilization of an Italian City-
State, 1297–1797 (baltimore, 2000), p. 501.