This newly developing society brought about great changes in the way people understood the world and their place in it. At that time, Florence was unique in Europe for a constitution based on bourgeois democratic principles. Its council, however, excluded small craftsmen and the common people. Florence had a constitution since 1293, which excluded the nobility from the government and transferred its administration exclusively to the patricians. It was different in Florence, the second most powerful city in Italy. The social order of the Venetian state was determined by its economic interests and the nobility, so its constitution remained aristocratic.

With 200,000 inhabitants, the city had a surprisingly large population. Venetian ships called at European ports, and Venetian ducats became an international currency. Venice had possessions in Greece, Crete, Cyprus and on the Dalmatian coast. Trade and industry developed here in the 13th century, favored by their trade routes to the Orient. Alongside Venice, Lombardy (Milan) and Tuscany (Florence) were the most advanced regions. The Italian territories were the cradle of early capitalism. 1822, by Raffaello Sanzio Morghen (public domain) The word quarantine derives from the Italian quaranta giorni, 40 days. In fact, the idea of quarantine originates in plague-stricken 14th-century Italy, when ships arriving in Venice from infected ports were required to wait offshore for 40 days before docking. It peaked in Europe between 13, having come on Italian merchant ships from Asia via the Silk Road. The Black Plague was the most devastating pandemic ever recorded, resulting in the deaths of between 75-125 million people. Sabatelli after himself (Creative Commons)

The plague of Florence in 1348, as described in Boccaccio’s Decameron.

Giovanni boccaccio dante alighieri