The Arengo was the name of the assembly that ruled

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

from the fifth century A.D. to 1243, and of the popular councils which regulated the political life in

Northern Italy Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...

free ''

comuni The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

as well. It was made up of the heads of

's Great families and had no leader or fixed meeting place. This made San Marino almost unique in the period as a state that had no

Head of State A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

. However this form of rule was cumbersome and the Arengo was crippled by feuds between the Great Families. By the early 13th century the Arengo had become so dysfunctional that the citizens of San Marino decided to elect their own assembly, which they called the

Grand and General Council The Grand and General Council ( it, Consiglio Grande e Generale) is the parliament of San Marino. The council has 60 members elected for a five-year term. History From the fifth century San Marino was ruled by an assembly composed by all t ...

. This assembly became very powerful, and by 1243 the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

, who was the nominal ruler of San Marino, made the

the supreme body of

Founding

After the death of the founders, the community was governed by a small leaderless collection of

monks A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

based around the

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

of St. Agatha on the top of Monte Titano. However, around a hundred years later when Rome looked close to collapse and the Goths were threatening Italy, eight neighbouring towns joined the 'land of San (saint) Marino (the founder)' seeking the saint's protection and blessing against the Goths. This laid the foundation for modern San Marino with its nine municipalities. With such a large expansion of population it became clear that San Marino could not remain without a central structure so the Arengo was formed; based on the original Roman Senate, it was made of the head of each of the Great Families.

1906 Arengo

{{Main, 1906 Sammarinese citizenry meeting Since the 17th century, the Grand and General Council became more oligarchic, with political power resting in the hands of powerful landowners. The

Sammarinese Socialist Party The Sammarinese Socialist Party ( it, Partito Socialista Sammarinese, PSS) was a socialist and, later, social-democratic political party in San Marino. Its Italian counterpart was the Italian Socialist Party and its international affiliation was w ...

agitated for universal male suffrage by convening an arengo in 1906. The heads of the households agreed to let all adult male citizens vote. Many wealthy landowners opposed the changes and formed the

Sammarinese Fascist Party The Sammarinese Fascist Party ( it, Partito Fascista Sammarinese) or PFS was a fascist political party that ruled San Marino from 1923 to 1943. History The party was founded on 10 August 1922 and led by Giuliano Gozi, a Sammarinese World War ...

in 1922. They would go on to rule the country until the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, when a Socialist-

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

coalition government was elected.

Sources

*Oxford Great Lives, various, 2003, Oxford University Press *Encyclopædia Britannica online edition, various,2008 *Oxford History of Italy, John Briscome, 1998, Oxford University Press *The Catholic Encyclopedia, 2007, various, Jesuit Publishing *The Oxford book of the Christian Church, Michael Thirstone, 1996, Oxford University Press Politics of San Marino