Toynbee "Giano della Bella"
the famous Florentine tribune, who, though a noble by birth, espoused the cause of the commons, and promoted the celebrated Ordinamenti di Giustizia against the power of the nobles of Florence; he is commonly supposed to be alluded to by Cacciaguida (in the Heaven of Mars) who, referring to the arms of the Marquis Hugh of Brandenburg (il gran barone), which were borne by the families which received knighthood from him, says that 'he who binds them with a fringe is today united with the commons', [Par. xvi. 131-132]. [Bella, della: Ugo di Brandeburgo.]

After the victory of the Florentine Guelphs at Campaldino (June 11, 1289) the insolence of the nobles in Florence, their quarrels, and their oppression of the commons, became so intolerable that at length, in 1292, the people were roused against them. Their cause was espoused by Giano della Bella, himself a noble, who, being one of the priors, proposed (1293) a strict enforcement of the Ordinarnenti di Giustizia, according to which no noble could take any share in the government, which was reserved for those who were actually engaged in the practice of one of the Arti; every act of violence on the part of a noble against the commons was to be punished with severe penalties, confiscation, amputation of the hand, or death; lesser offences were to be punished by pecuniary fines; further, if any noble committed an offence and escaped from justice, the penalty was to be exacted from his relatives, if, on the other hand, any of the commons opposed the government or violated its laws, they were to be punished by being declared grandi, whereby they were excluded from the government and exposed to the same penalties as the nobles. In order to carry these ordinances into effect a new offficial was created, viz. the Gonfaloniere di Giustizia, who was associated with the six priors, and was provided with a guard of a thousand foot-soldiers, whose banner bore the communal arms, a red cross on a white ground; this force, which could not be called upon to serve outside the city, was bound always to be at the disposal of the gonfaloniere for the maintenance of order. One of the first to serve in the office of gonfaloniere was Dino Compagni, who held the post in 1293 (June 15-Aug. 15), as he himself records (i. 12). Dino speaks very highly of Giano's personal character and of the effect of his fearless administration of justice:

Ritornati i cittadini in Firenze [dopo Campaldino], si resse il popolo alquanti anni in grande e potente stato ma i nobili e grandi cittadini insuperbiti faceano molte ingiurie a' popolani, con batterli e con altre villanie. Onde molti buoni cittadini popolani e mercatanti tra' quali fu uno grande e potente cittadino, savio, vaiente e buono uomo, chiamato Giano della Bella, assai animoso e di buona stirpe, a cui dispiaceano queste ingiune, se ne fe' capo e guida, e coll'aiuto del popolo, essendo novamente eletto de' Signori che entrarono addi xv di febbraio MCCLXXXXII [i.e. Feb. 15, 1292/3], e co' suoi compagni, afforzorono il popolo. E al loro uficio de' Priori aggiunsono uno colla medesima balia che gli altri, il quale chiamorno Gonfaloniere di Giustizia . . . a cui fusse dato uno gonfalone dell'arme del popolo, che è la croce rossa nel campo bianco, e .M. fanti tutti armati colla detta insegna o arme, che avessino a essere presti a ogni richiesta del detto Gonfaloniere, in piazza o dove bisognassi. E fecesi leggi, che si chiamorono Ordini della Giustizia, contro a' potenti che facessino oltraggi a' popolani: a che l'uno consorto fusse tenuto per l'altro, e che i malifici si potessino provare per dua testimoni di publica voce e fama: e deliberorno che qualunche famiglia avessi auto cavaliere tra loro, tutti s'intendessino essere Grandi, e che non potessino essere de' Signon, nè Gonfalonieri di Giustizia, nè de' loro collegi, e furno, in tutto, le dette famiglie [trentatre o trentasette], e ordinorno che i Signori vecchi, con certi arroti, avessino a eleggere i nuovi. (i. 11.)

Giano della Bella sopradetto, uomo virile e di grande animo, era tanto ardito che lui difendeva quelle cose che altri abbandonava, e parlava quelle che altri taceva; e tutto faceva in favore della giustizia contro a' colpevoli: e tanto cra temuto da' rettori, che temeano di nascondere i malifici. (i. 12.)

Villani speaks of Giano della Bella as 'uno valente uomo, antico e nobile popolano, e ricco e possente' (viii. 1); and says of him, 'era il più leale e diritto popolano e amatore del bene comune che uomo di Firenze, e quegli che mettea in comune e non ne traeva' (viii. 8).

The nobles, exasperated by the severity of Giano's enactments, and by the ruthlessness with which they were put into execution under the most trivial pretexts -- Dino says, 'i grandi fortemente si doleano delle leggi, e alli essecutori d'esse diceano: Uno cavallo corre, e dà della coda nel viso a uno popolano; o in una calca uno darà di petto sanza malizia a un altro; o più fanciulli di piccola età verranno a quistione: gli uomini gli accuseranno: debbono però costoro per si piccola cosa essere disfatti?' (i. 12)-- determined to get rid of him. Not daring to have him assassinated for fear of the people, they gradually poisoned the popular mind against him, accusing him of exercising his power, not for the ends of justice, but in order to rid himself of his enemies; and at last Giano fell a victim to their machinations. Corso Donati, being accused of complicity in a murder during a street brawl, was brought to trial before the podestà; the latter, misled by one of the judges, who had been bribed by Corso, acquitted him and condemned his adversary. Thereupon the populace, furious at what they considered a miscarriage of justice, attacked the palace of the podestà, and attempted to set it on fire. Giano della Bella, hearing of the tumult, rode among the people in order to disperse them, but the populace, instead of obeying him, insulted, and finally threatened him, so that he was forced to retire. His enemies made the most of his discomfiture, and inflamed the populace against him to such an extent that he thought it prudent to leave Florence (March 5, 1294/5). No sooner was he outside the city, says Dino, than he was sentenced to banishment, his possessions were confiscated, and his house pillaged and half destroyed (i. 16, 17). Villani adds that he took refuge in France and died there (viii. 8).

According to Machiavelli, Giano went into voluntary exile:

Non volle Giano fare isperienza di questi popolari favori, nè commettere la vita sua ai magistrati, perchè temeva la malignità di questi, e la instabilità di quelli tale che per torre occasione ai nimici d'ingiuriare lui, e agli amici di offendere la patria, deliberò di partirsi, e dar luogo all'invidia e liberare i cittadini dal timore che eglino avevano di lui, e lasciare quella città, la quale con suo carico e pericolo aveva, libera dalla servitu de' potenti, e si elesse volontario esilio. (Istorie fiorentine, ii. 13.)

Villani includes Giano among those who had been the greatest benefactors of Florence, and had been treated by her with base ingratitude (xii. 44).

[Gianni de' Soldanier.] [On Giano's role in the government of Florence, see I. Del Lungo, Dino Compagni e la sua cronica (Firenze, 1879-87), i, pp. 115-117; see also N. Ottokar, Il comune di Firenze alla fine del dugento (Firenze, 1926); and G. Salvemini, Magnati e popolani in Fivenze dal 1280 al 1295 (Firenze, 1889).]

©Oxford University Press 1968. From A Dictionary of Proper Names and Notable Matters in the Works of Dante by Paget Toynbee (1968) by permission of Oxford University Press