Abstract

The constitutional 'myth' of Venice has its origin in two very different sources: a certain strand of political thought in Venice encouraged by its government; the political debate in Florence in the first part of the 16th century. The thought of G. Contarini and of D. Giannotti are essential landmarks in this process. Their studies allow us to throw light on the fact that, at this moment, political thought is in an intervening period: it is still framed by the conception of the three forms of government and their corrupted forms while it tries to create other conceptual frameworks. Their studies also shows the weight of the reference to Aristotle in Venice and Florence at the beginning of the 16th century and, at the same time, the impossibility to speak of a single political aristotelism.