“Rather the Wealth to Support Their Status than Their Quality as Soldiers”. The Social Position of the Officers in Lucca’s Ordinanze della Montagna, 1550-1600

The aim of this chapter is to analyse the social position of the militia officers of the Republic of Lucca’s outlying areas during the second half of the sixteenth century in order to understand the degree to which their economic, political and social power may have influenced the appointment. Starting from the militia officers themselves and enlarging the analysis to their families, the chapter shows that the officers were members of the richest and most influential local families, or at least they had close relationships with them. The Lucchese militia was born with military purposes, but soon became another way for local elites to consolidate their power and a mirror of the communities’ internal structure.