ROTA. - At the beginning of the 16th century, one can observe, both in the Papal States and in other regions of Italy, a flourishing of civil tribunals that bore the name of Ruota or R., a name certainly derived from the Sacred Roman Rota (v. TRIBUNALI ECCLESIASTICI. Sede, II), which had already existed for several centuries and was now renowned throughout the Catholic world.
Not all the R.s, however, were established by the Roman pontiffs; almost all of them had jurisdiction primarily only in the civil forum. It would be interesting to discover the reason for the almost simultaneous origin of so many similar tribunals; to investigate why that particular name was chosen; to examine any possible relations with the Roman Rota; and finally to determine all the common elements, highlighting those particular to each one. For now, it can only be said that no relation between the Sacred Roman Rota and the other particular R.s is known; no relation of dependence is evident, even though the Roman Rota must be acknowledged to have had a universal jurisdiction, while the others had a limited territory and restricted competence.
The local R.s, none of which ever bore the qualification of "sacred," sought to adopt, and generally with papal approval, a name now of world renown, out of a certain vanity; however, it must be recognized that after 1500 there was a substantial change in judicial institutions. No longer a single judge, an absolute arbiter, but a collegial tribunal composed of three, four, or five members, with the faculty for the parties to appeal within the same tribunal: in this, one can note an influence from the Sacred Roman Rota, with the effect of greater judicial guarantees. To better safeguard the independence of the judges, they were not chosen from the local area but were mostly brought in from other regions: it is recorded that the two cities of Macerata and Perugia exchanged auditors for their respective R.s.
The first R. to arise in the Papal States, in chronological order, is that of Perugia, requested by the local authorities themselves from Pope Clement VII and granted by him on March 28, 1530, with the brief *Exponi nobis nuper fecistis*. At the beginning of September 1532, the new college began its activity, which lasted, with a brief interruption under Paul III, until 1798, that is, until the invasion of French troops in the Papal States. Subsequently, the R. of Bologna was established by Paul III with the bull of July 11, 1535, *Ex iniuncto nobis*. The tribunal was assigned five judges, to be chosen from outside the city of Bologna, with a term of five years. Civil cases could be judged there at any instance, thus eliminating the need to resort to external tribunals for appeals. This R. also endured until the French Revolution. At Macerata, the R. was erected by Sixtus V for all the provinces of the Marches, with the bull *Romanae Pontifex supremi laudis in terra vicarius* of March 15, 1589. Its jurisdiction was expanded beyond the civil forum, including ecclesiastical and mixed cases and in part criminal cases. The tribunal could be considered almost pontifical, since the Pope himself reserved the right to appoint four of the five judges. Like those of Bologna, these judges were not to be natives of the place and were elected for five years: one per year, in rotation, assumed the functions of president. The *rotali* enjoyed all the privileges already granted to those of the Bolognese R. On March 22 of the same year, Sixtus V added to the R. of Macerata a college of five notaries and one of eight messengers. Also in Ferrara, with the bull of Clement VIII of May 29, 1599, *In supremo iustitiae throno*, a R. was similarly established, composed of five judges, elected for five years.
Outside the Papal States, but still in Italy, the R.s of Florence and Genoa are worthy of mention. That of Florence, which is the first of all, was established under the Medici in 1502, to limit the powers of the *podestà* and to receive appeals; however, the path of appeal to the prince remained open in Tuscany, who reserved the right to modify any sentence. R.s also arose in Lucca and Siena, similar to the Florentine one.