Keeping Kings in Check 75Th e Italian Communes
Th e earliest distinctive sign of restive localism presenting a direct challenge
to universalism is found in the Italian communal movement, which began
in force in the eleventh century. Of the history of the communal movement
itself, only the barest outline can be sketched here. At the heart of the medi-
eval Italian commune, and virtually its defi ning feature, was an association
of persons united by solemn oath for the mutual protection and tenacious
defense of legal rights. Th e idea was to gather into the hands of the com-
mune as much legal power as was possible under the circumstances— legal
powers, that is, that were not subject to controls by any other party. Th e
commune, in other words, was an in de pen dent association. Over time, the
communes evolved away from their original status as associations of indi-
viduals and became territorial city- states very much on the model of the
ancient Greek polis. But the spirit of in de pen dence continued to burn
strongly. In their fi ercely guarded in de pen dence and intense local patrio-
tism, the communes prefi gured the much later development of nationalism
at the expanded levels of the larger nation- states.
In fact, the galaxy of communal governments that arose in northern Italy
can easily be seen, in retrospect, as a kind of dress rehearsal for later concep-
tions of the sovereign in de pen dence of states. Even at the time that they
arose, it was clear that they posed a serious challenge to medieval ideas of
unity— most immediately and directly to the legal integrity of the Holy Ro-
man Empire, in whose territory they were located. Th e Holy Roman emper-
ors accordingly made a heroic— though unsuccessful— eff ort to prevent the
communes from usurping the prerogatives of the imperial government.
Emperor Frederick I, most notably, in the second half of the twelft h cen-
tury made a determined attempt to reclaim imperial rights from the com-
munes. Th is occurred in 1158, at a conference called the Diet of Roncaglia,
at which he met with representatives of fourteen of the cities. It was one of
the great showcase legal events of the Middle Ages. Frederick had at his side
four prominent civil law professors from the University of Bologna, and
each of the cities had two legal representatives. Th e lawyers, refl ecting their
Roman-law training with its strong bias in favor of imperial claims, all sided
with Frederick. But the communes continued to resist what they regarded as
imperial encroachment on their prerogatives. Th ey formed a military league