Bologna's gold bolognino emerged from a city perpetually caught between papal authority and communal independence — the late 14th century saw the commune repeatedly assert fiscal autonomy during periods when papal control of the city weakened or collapsed entirely. The issue spanning 1376–1401 overlaps directly with the War of the Eight Saints, during which Bologna joined the anti-papal league and briefly expelled the papal legate.
The Faesch reference (Fr. 113) places this among the rarer north Italian communal gold issues, with surviving examples concentrated in a handful of European institutional collections.
Bologna's gold bolognino emerged from a city perpetually caught between papal authority and communal independence — the late 14th century saw the commune repeatedly assert fiscal autonomy during periods when papal control of the city weakened or collapsed entirely. The issue spanning 1376–1401 overlaps directly with the War of the Eight Saints, during which Bologna joined the anti-papal league and briefly expelled the papal legate.
The Faesch reference (Fr. 113) places this among the rarer north Italian communal gold issues, with surviving examples concentrated in a handful of European institutional collections.