Lay eloquence in Italy at the time of the communes (late 12th century to the 14th century)

From the 12th to the 14th century, the communes of central and northern Italy witnessed an unprecedented flowering of lay eloquence, reflecting the complexity of the political issues at stake: the nomination and activity of outsiders as podestas, debate in city councils, a growing number of embassies, and, in a more traditional vein, harangues before battle. Deprived of any reportationes such as are preserved concerning religious preaching, historians may only reconstruct that eloquence with the help of disparate sources such as council minute-books, chronicles, treatises on rhetoric, school books and practical handbooks. The evidence, wide-ranging yet in agreement, from works such as Oculus pastoralis and authors such as Boncompagno da Signa, Brunetto Latini and Dino Compagni, together with hostile reactions from a number of theorists, shed light on the spreading use of eloquence in society and on the ever increasing impact of speech in the political sphere.