De Bono Communi. The Discourse and Practice of the Common Good in the European City (13th-16th c.)

Traditionally confined to the sphere of the State and of auctoritas, the phrase the “Common Good” is set to conquer the cities in the late Middle Ages and at the beginning of the Early Modern period. But can we compare a kingdom like France where the cities defend their “Common Good” by making reference to the interest and benefit of the Kingdom with principalities like Flanders where, despite their fierce desire for autonomy, the cities use the notion with much greater reservation than their Italian counterparts? This volume traces the intellectual and theoretical roots that have led to the emergence of the notion of the “Common Good” in the urban world of Western Europe by analysing the practical forms of its manifestations.