1 Common People, Common Rules. Institutions and Self-Governance in Historical Perspective

The aim of the paper is to draw first an overview on the evolution of the commons in the Italian peninsula between the sixteenth and the seventeenth century. The speech will underline especially the hard time lived by local finances during the period considered, related to the growth of debt and the loss of common properties. Then, the paper will focus on the connection between this phenomenon and the evolution of the institutions appointed to govern the commons. The latter end of the paper will focus on the answers given to this phenomenon in each Italian state, using two referential models. The prevailing one, characterized by a state intervention (more or less coordinated) in the management of the common resources, is typical for example of the Papal State, the Kingdom of Naples and the Republic of Venice. The second one, typical of Spanish Lombardy, is characterized by the arising of self-governed institutions, with an important role in the credit market but also in protecting the common properties. The aim of the paper is to show how the first model (in its local variations) failed almost everywhere: this failure was due to the application of the rules issued by the states, which were inevitably mediated by the rural élites. Secondly, it will be underlined how the purpose of state intervention was not the preservation of the use value of the properties, but th