The Commune of Venice ( la, Commune Veneciarum) is the title with which the government of the city of

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

and its Republic was designated from 1143. The municipality, similar to other medieval municipalities, was based on the popular power of the assembly, called

Concio The ''Concio'' (from the Latin contio, "assembly"), in the Republic of Venice, was the general assembly of freemen (citizens and patricians) from which the Doge was elected. It was in use between the years 742 and 1423 before it lost its function ...

in Venice. It represented the patriciate of the city with a system of assemblies including the Great Council,

Minor Council The Minor Council ( it, Minor Consiglio) or Ducal Council was one of the main constitutional bodies of the Republic of Venice, and served both as advisors and partners to the Doge of Venice, sharing and limiting his authority. Establishment The Mi ...

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and the

Council of Forty The Council of Forty ( it, Consiglio dei Quaranta), also known as the ''Quarantia'', was one of the highest constitutional bodies of the Republic of Venice, with both legal and political functions as the supreme court. Origins and evolution By some ...

Overview

Unlike other Italian cities, Venice retained some vestiges of their previous institution of the monarchy embodied by the Doge for setting bounds for power that such assemblies were developing. The leading groups of most of the towns gathered at the time around the core of the ancient patrician families, creating a new merchant aristocracy with the '' Serrata del Maggior Consiglio'' of 1297 and actually took over the power and ousting the popular assembly. In the name of the Commune, it continued to operate the highest representative body of the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

– including the Doge, the Minor Council and heads of the Forty – until 1423. At this time, the abolition of the Concione ended the last residue of municipal institutions and the supreme body took the name of

Serenissima Signoria The Signoria of Venice (''Serenissima Signoria'') was the supreme body of government of the Republic of Venice. The older Commune of Venice was replaced by the Signoria from 1423 on, being later officially adopted in the ''Promissione Ducale'' by ...

Overview

See also