Le tradizioni normative delle città toscane. Le origini.

This paper examines the earliest regulation of the cities in Tuscany (especially Pisa, Pistoia, Siena and Volterra). The results of the diplomatistic, archivistic and codicological investigations carried out by specialists, analysis of texts and comparison with other urban contexts (Genoa, Milan, Piacenza, Alessandria, Alba) are enlightening. In some Tuscan cities, up until the late 13th century, there existed no single law code capable of distilling all the regulations in force. However, this apparent 'disorder' was not due to an increase in the institutional complexity of the municipal authorities. In fact, by tradition, as early as the 12th century, the regulations of many cities were distinguished as two completely separate types of document, collectively known as the 'brevi' and the 'constituta'. The former comprised regulations governing political organization, while the latter were mainly devoted to local management of civil rights. This long-lasting legal ‘multi-centralism’ may be able to tell us something of the origins and development of the Italian ‘Comune’, or municipal council, which, rather than being the gradual affirmation of an undifferentiated socioprofessional amalgamation, was the result of an expedient and occasional collaboration between autonomous power groups.