The Law of the Florentine Catasto of 1427

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...nor the Twelve Good Men The Dodici Buoni Uomini, one of the two advisory colleges that assisted the Florentine government.. [Also excluded are] ten members of the newly elected balìa A committee granted extraordinary temporary powers to handle specific crises or administrative tasks. [page 2], ten from the bank, the supervisors of the chamber, the officials of the orphans The Ufficiali dei Pupilli, who managed the estates of minors and widows., the officials of the Monte The Monte Comune, the office managing the city’s public debt., those currently holding an office outside the city, those who have already been drawn for such an office, or those under thirty years of age.

Also, once fifteen men have been drawn for each gonfalone A "banner" or administrative sub-district; there were sixteen in total, four per quarter., totaling sixty from the Greater Guilds of the same quarter One of the four main districts of Florence., their names shall be read out immediately. Once drawn and deemed eligible, as described above, each of them must then immediately be put to a vote among the members of both councils and any others present who wish to cast their beans, each one individually. Once all those from one quarter have been voted upon, the drawing for the others from the next quarter of the aforementioned Greater Guilds shall take place, and each shall again be scrutinized The squittinio was the formal vetting and voting process for office-seekers. individually and by themselves among the same group. Once all those from the Greater Guilds of the four quarters have been voted upon, a drawing of five men per gonfalone from the lesser guilds The fourteen guilds representing tradesmen and artisans, such as smiths and butchers. shall be held for each district, totaling eighty for the entire city.

Once those have been drawn, the election shall take place, with each candidate voted on individually for each quarter. Two representatives from the lesser guilds for the entire city shall remain elected, provided that these two cannot be from the same quarter, and that they must surpass their fellow candidates in the vote or scrutiny by the number of black beans In Florence, voters used beans to cast ballots: a black bean signaled approval ("si"), while a white bean signaled rejection ("no").. This is on the condition that each of them obtains at least two-thirds or more of the black beans from all those participating in the vote. At that point, ten men in total shall be understood to be, and shall be, solemnly and legitimately appointed to the Office of the catasto The landmark tax census of 1427, which required citizens to declare all assets and liabilities. for a term of one year from the day of the next upcoming election, with the office, authority, power, balìa, prohibitions, and other matters written below.

This is restricted so that among the said ten, there cannot be more than one from the same lineage The stirpe or family line; Florentine law frequently barred multiple family members from serving in the same office to prevent any one clan from gaining too much power. in the male line—specifically, the one who received the most black beans. If any of them should happen to be drawn together by lot, those who "keep the secret" The officials responsible for the integrity and secrecy of the balloting process. shall remove them. And if it should happen that in the first vote or scrutiny, the two per quarter from the Greater Guilds and the two from the Lesser Guilds across the city and in different quarters do not win the vote by the...