This book considers the nature and extent of princely power in Florence in the late 16th century through an examination of the city's criminal justice system. Focusing on the court Otto Di Guardia e Balia (Eight on Public Safety), on its police, prisons and relations with other courts, John Brackett reveals much about the rule of law in the capital city and its subject territory. Major emphasis is placed on the financial limits imposed on the judiciary and revealing conclusions drawn on how these constraints acted upon the system. Brackett suggests that money rather than the practice of an ideology of repression or absolutism, was behind the formation of what is commonly considered an extreme and inflexible system. In truth, he reveals that the system was flexible and moderate, based on a system of negotiation in which various parties were able to exercise their influence, deploying strategies to help themselves realise their own interests. The Medici Grand Dukes, the author concludes, cannot be categorised as absolutist or their system as absolutism, but rather as politicians running a tightly financed but highly practical legal system.

This book uses as an index of princely power a thorough examination of the major elements of the Florentine system of criminal justice--court of the Otto Di Guardia e Balia (Eight on Public Safety), police, prisons, relations with lesser courts in the dominion--which reveals the extent of their effectiveness in the capital city and the subject territory. The author's analysis reveals the determinative role played by the fiscal limits placed on the system. These limits are more important to understanding the character of the system than is any ideology of repression or absolutism. In fact, the system of criminal justice was one of negotiation, in which various players, all with some power, deployed strategies that helped them to realize their interests. Thus, the system was flexible and relatively moderate. By this index, the terms "absolutist" and "absolutism" are not helpful in understanding the type of power exercised by the Medici Grand Dukes.