The feudal principalities: the east (Trent, Bressanone/Brixen, Aquileia, Tyrol and Gorizia)

This paper examines the vast territory that extends over the central-eastern Alpine area. These frontier territories more closely resemble the German imperial principalities (Trento, Bressanone, Aquileia) than the municipal and communal settings of the nearby Italian regional states. Furthermore, the long-lived resilience of a vast network of feudal powers renders these territories impervious—and often hostile—to permeation by state powers. This study concentrates on two aspects in particular: the elaboration of the ideas of territory that are taking shape in the late 14th and early 15th centuries in the juxtaposition between state and imperial models; the languages and practices employed by the territorial elites to define their own political identities.