At the sound of the bell
The Arengo arises in the Early Middle Ages, around the year 1000, in answer to the need for a political body able to govern a growing community. The term denotes the assembly of all the family heads, who gather at the sound of the great bell of the parish church to decide public affairs. The assembly holds every power, formerly concentrated in a single figure, the feudal abbot.
The Arengo appoints the highest offices of State, including the Consuls, later renamed Captains Regent. From 1244 they inherit the executive duties and judicial power. The Arengo also begins drafting the Statutes, a body of laws regulating community life.
Sixty representatives
In the fifteenth century, with the rise in population, calling all the family heads together becomes impractical. The Arengo therefore appoints 60 members and entrusts them with part of its functions: the Great and General Council is born. From direct participation the Republic moves to a representative form of indirect democracy.
At the end of the eighteenth century the Arengo gradually loses weight. The Council, no longer subject to any form of control by the assembly, is dominated by the interests of a small number of patrician families. From the Alberoni occupation onwards, Sammarinese institutions undergo a process of oligarchic involution.
The first referendum
On 25 March 1906 the Arengo is reconvened in the parish church. 805 family heads of 1,054 turn up. Each receives a ballot with two questions: whether the government should be led by the Sovereign Princely Council, and whether the composition of the Council should reflect a proportional balance between the inhabitants of the countryside and those of the city. It is the first form of referendum in Sammarinese history.
On 5 May of the same year the first electoral law is enacted: the Council will renew one third of its members every three years. On 10 June 1906 the first political elections in Sammarinese history take place. For later developments see the page on the Novecento.
Every six months, on the first Sunday
The expression Istanza d'Arengo today designates the submission by citizens of petitions of public interest on a six-monthly basis: the first Sunday after 1 April and the first Sunday after 1 October, in conjunction with the investiture of the new Captains Regent. The modern institution is treated in detail on the page dedicated to direct democracy.