The Italian Cities

In the middle ages, conditions in Italy were favorable for the growth of independent city-states. Cities like Naples and Venice developed their own government under their local dukes, and when Charlemagne's empire dissolved, the towns of northern Italy were left to themselves under the rule of their bishops. The Venetians were granted trading privileges at Constantinople in return for services which their ships rendered to the Byzantines.

A chapter from The History of Medieval Europe.

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