There have been many political crises over the centuries in which the people of a country have risen up against inequality, demanding rights and fair opportunities for citizenship. The Roman Republic, the Italian city-states, and the French Revolution share common themes of equality. In Italy, after the beginning of the 13th century, dual government systems became necessary in many city-states to satisfy corporators who were tired of a despotic regime under the old aristocratic families. The 12th century had been a time of control for the aristocrats, who held all the titles in their city's government offices and held power over the rest of the city's inhabitants. It was the nobility who held power because holding an office required wealth and freedom. Many Italian city-states became richer and more independent, and by the 13th century ordinary people acted on the socio-political injustice they faced. They, called the people, wanted to participate in the municipality, in the government formed by the city nobility. If the noble families had not agreed to share government, the city itself would have been plunged into warring factions, each vying for political dominance. Four city-states in particular created oligarchies in the mid-14th century to maintain their wealth and independence: Florence, Siena, Rome, and Genoa. These city-states, however, were not consistently oligarchic: the nobility did not give up their authority so easily and there was always a power play between the two social parties. At the beginning of the 14th century, the Florentine government was controlled by the nobility who were slowly corrupting the city and emptying it of wealth. In 1340, the people were in conflict against the nobles, seeking a shared... middle of paper... Italian city-state prepared for war: urban knights and the Cavalcade of Todi. Journal of medieval history 39, n. 2 (2013): 240-253.Law, John E. and Bernadette Paton. Municipalities and despots in medieval and Renaissance Italy. Surrey: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2010. Morreale, Laura K. "French Literature, Florentine Politics, and Vernacular Historical Writing, 1270-1348." Speculum 85, no. 4 (2010): 868-893.Najemy, John M. Italy in the Renaissance Age. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.Piper, David. The illustrated history of art. London: Bounty Books, 2004. Rosenwein, Barbara H. Reading the Middle Ages. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010. Staley, Edgcumbe. Guilds of Florence. London: Methuen & Co., 1906.Stern, Laura Ikins. “Politics and law in Renaissance Florence and Venice”. The American Journal of Legal History 46, no. 2 (2004): 209-234.