Page:The history of medieval Europe.djvu/633

 THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE 577 the sake of their military reputations without either losing many of their troops or terminating a war which was prof- itable to them. They would change sides at almost any moment if offered enough pay. A despotism was the logical outcome of the single magis- tracy of the podesta which at the beginning of the thirteenth century had replaced the earlier boards of con- The rise of suls in the Italian communes. Although at first des P otlsms the tenure of office was annual, a podesta who showed him- self capable of allaying party strife and of giving the city order and prosperity was very likely to be elected for several successive years and finally for life. Gradually the office might cease to be elective and become hereditary. In some towns it was not the podesta of the commune who thus transformed himself into a prince, but the podesta of the merchants, or the potestas populi (" captain of the people"), chosen by the popolo, which included members of all the gilds and constituted a more democratic suffrage than the origi- nal commune. In other places the vicars, who had been entrusted with the town government by pope or emperor, altered their appointment to a permanent princedom. Be- sides slipping into power by these peaceful and gradual methods, one might suddenly force one's way into a prince- dom as the leader of a successful revolution or as a com- mander of the city's army. It was especially during the troubled times of the warfare of Frederick II and his sons with popes and communes that ambitious and unscrupulous individuals were able to establish despotisms. Some despots, like some of the ancient Roman emperors, won an unenviable reputation as cruel and vicious monsters. But taken as a whole their crimes and violence Rule of the were little if any worse than those of the con- des P ots tending parties which had preceded them. As a rule they were able, alert, resourceful men: indeed, they had to be in order to retain their offices which ofj:en had no legal justi- fication. They could not "muddle aloitg" like a king, on the strength of his royal title. They also w'ef^e more likely than were republican governments to encourage artists