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The article explores the processes of collaboration between public authorities and elite civic families through which contemporaries could keep internecine feuds under control and secure periods of political stability, such as that experienced at Bologna between 1280 and 1296. It is here demonstrated that the most powerful households of the city actively helped civic authorities to pacify on-going feuds between third parties. The internal fragmentation which characterised late medieval cities did not always lead to volatility and political instability. Through dialogue and collaboration, contemporaries could guarantee peace, balance, and prosperity.
