The normative role of public opinion in the republican experience of Renaissance Venice

Abstract

Challenging the traditional view that credits the emergence of public opinion to the Enlightenment era, this article claims that the modern Western roots of the concept can be already identified in the political environment of the urban communes in late medieval and Renaissance Europe. Consequently, its focus is on the role that public opinion played in the constitutional framework of one of the most prominent European city-states, the Republic of Venice. In order to capture the complexity of the issue, the study juxtaposes normative political ideals against the social praxis of Venetian political life. This historical excursion culminates with an account of the dramatic defeat at Agnadello in 1509, which serves as a backdrop illustrating not only the deep impact that public opinion exercised over Venetian domestic politics but also the extensive international role that it played in the realm of the Renaissance world of politics, economics, and warfare.