The Law of the Florentine Catasto of 1427

Who, how many, and what sort ¹) of citizens the inequality of public burdens has stripped of their possessions, from their homeland...

¹) Manuscript B begins, like A, with the words: "Who, how many and what sort" original Latin: Quos, quot et quales. Pagnini's edition also contains part of the introduction and the end of the provision A formal legislative decree or act. of May 22, 1427—which is what we reproduce here—but that edition is so inaccurate that it is completed here according to the text provided to us by the Provisions of the Major Councils The Provvisioni dei Consigli Maggiori are the primary legislative records of the Florentine Republic. (vol. CXVII, folio 98). "In the Name of God, Amen. In the year of the incarnation of Our Lord Jesus Christ, one thousand four hundred and twenty-seven, in the fifth indiction A 15-year cycle used in medieval dating., on the twenty-second day of the month of May. In the Council of the People of the city of Florence, by mandate of the Magnificent Lords, the Lords Priors of the Guilds and the Standard-bearer of Justice The Gonfaloniere di Giustizia, the head of the Florentine government. of the people and commune of Florence, assembled in the palace of the people of Florence in the usual manner, by public proclamation and the ringing of the bell: the names of which Lords Priors and Standard-bearer are these, namely: Niccolò di Feduccio Falconi, Giovanni di Tommaso Corbinelli, Niccolò di Bellaccino Bellacci, butcher, Francesco di Bonaiuto Rimbe, tanner, Piero di Filippo of the Lord Leonardo de' Strozzi, Tommaso di Andrea de' Minerbetti, Lorenzo di Stagio Barducci, apothecary, Chimento di Zanobi Guidotti, priors of the guilds The Priori delle Arti, the executive body of Florence., and Frosino di Cece da Verrazzano, Standard-bearer of Justice. I, Martino di Luca Martini, Notary of Florence, scribe of the reforms of the councils of the people and commune of Florence, in the presence and by the will and mandate of the office of the Lords Priors of the Guilds and the Standard-bearer, present in the said council in appropriate numbers, read and recited among the said councilors, gathered in sufficient number, the below-written provisions and each of them, deliberated and made clearly in the vernacular and for the sake of understanding, as will appear below. And having observed the appropriate solemnities, both those due and required according to the ordinances of the said commune, and in the manner, form, and order written below, namely:
"THE PROVISION written below regarding all and singular the matters written below, deliberated and made by the Lords Priors, the Standard-bearer, the Gonfaloniers of the companies of the people Leaders of the neighborhood militia units who also held political roles., and the Twelve Good Men The Dodici Buonomini, an advisory body to the Priors. of the commune of Florence, according to the ordinances of the said commune, which is as follows, namely: 'Who, how many and what sort....'"