Shadow Bureaucrats and Bureaucracy in Trecento Florence

Abstract

This chapter examines ‘shadow’ bureaucrats and bureaucracy in trecento Florence. It traces the activities of public officials whose stated jobs (bell-ringer, accountant) suggest that they had little to do with the administration of warfare, but who in fact played major roles that reveal surprising and hitherto unknown institutional continuities. Given the frequency of warfare during the period, the evidence makes clear the need for additional research and a reevaluation of the Florentine bureaucracy that takes greater and more nuanced account of the effects of warfare.