Fra conti, marchesi e comuni. Comitatus, giurisdizioni ed élites locali a Cologna Veneta tra XII e XIII secolo

This paper reassesses the shift of Cologna Veneta and its territory from the district of Vicenza to that of Verona in the late twelfth century, based on extensive archival research that provided a solution to some ambiguities found in chronicles (Godi, Maurisio, Pagliarini). It nuances the idea of a strong control exerted by the commune of Verona, which was on the contrary made difficult in this part of the contado by the political-military power of the high aristocracy exiled from Verona; it shows how the counts of Vicenza and the marquesses of Este, despite some notable interruptions (1194-1204), succeeded one another in exercising jurisdiction over Cologna until 1233 at least, putting viscounts in charge of the local government. Local élites, informal and lacking a native military class, and the local commune developed in substantial isolation from the city; however, by the mid-thirteenth century they had become remarkably effective on a political level, contributing to making Cologna the centre of a district whose unity would last centuries.