Élites di governo e «mastre» ad Agrigento fra Trecento e Quattrocento

Abstract

Even if the Sicilian state communities acquired a new and central importance during the reigns of Martino and of Alfonso V, with a few exceptions there is no monographic or comparative research on the urban social dynamics. This article concerns the town of Agrigento and, in particular, the origin of the city groups, their various political roles and the power balances among various government groups with reference to the formation of lists of those eligible for election for various local council posts. It is thought that the institutions of such lists represented the victory of aristocracy over other social groups in urban dynamics from the second half of the reign of Alfonso. It has been shown, on the contrary, that the applications, even if confirmed, of those eligible for election didrit necessarily mean that they were actually accepted. From this situation a system of government arose in which the magistri carried out an important role during the whole reign of Alfonso, without undergoing any serious exclusion on the part of the nobiles.