“Potestas condendi leges”. The Deformation of a Civic Value under the Pressure of Princely Rule

Using both civic statutes and legal reflections by jurists active in Lombardy on the XIVth century, the essay outlines how the potestas condendi leges is slipping from the universitas civium, first holder of the legislative power, to the lords of northern Italy’s communal cities, in particular to the Visconti family. Alberico de Rosate and Signorolo de Homodeis seem to give an important contribution to legitimize this key process in the shift "from the commune to the lordship".