Gonfaloniere of Justice

Gonfaloniere of Justice (Gonfaloniere di Giustizia) was a post in the government of medieval and early Renaissance Florence. Like Florence's Priori, it was introduced in 1293 when Giano Della Bella's Ordinamenti di Giustizia came into force.

He was one of the nine citizens selected by drawing lots every two months, who formed the government, or Signoria. As Gonfaloniere di Giustizia he was the temporary standard-bearer of the Republic of Florence and custodian of the city's banner, which was displayed from the yardarm of a portable cross. Along with the voting rights of the other Priori, he was also in charge of the internal security forces and the maintenance of public order. To distinguish him from his other eight colleagues, his crimson coat, lined with ermine, was further embroidered with golden stars. Each of Florence's neighborhoods, or rioni, had its own priore who might be selected to serve on the council, and its own gonfaloniere di compagnia selected from the first families of each quarter.

13th century Italy was a 'land of cities' and Florence was one of the richest and most politically restless among them. The most obvious signs of this prosperity and economic power were its striking of 3.5 gram gold florins and the presence of the city's large mercantile and financier companies right across Europe and Africa. These companies' leaders demanded increasing involvement in the city's political life, claiming equal or greater dignity than the old noble families who held now unproductive rural land outside the town. In the 13th and 14th centuries the Arti Maggiori would be key to the city's economic ascent and the middle class's revenge on the feudal nobility. This state of affairs would last until at least 1347, when the English monarchy's bankruptcy due to its high military expenditure in the Hundred Years' War dragged even the Bardi and Peruzzi businesses (the latter alone owed around 600,000 guilders) into ruin.

The post of Gonfaloniere survived practically until the abolition of the Republican constitution by the Medici on their return to the city in 1530. Indeed, in the 15th century the post was given to many members of the Medici family and their neighbouring and allied families, giving them a kind of recognised power within the republican framework and de facto (though never de jure) allowing them to take over the powers of the other old magistracies.

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