This article offers a comparative study of city states in the Christian and Islamic spheres of the later medieval Mediterranean world, with a particular focus on Italy, Syria and al-Andalus. Medieval city states are not usually associated with the Islamic world, but rather with a narrative that has foregrounded the exceptional nature of European cities in world history, especially the famous city republics in Northern and Central Italy, and the role that city states played in the formation of European states. Yet city states were a phenomenon that could be observed across urbanized regions of the Mediterranean world where cities turned into important political arenas in the context of sustained political fragmentation. City states are best approached as political systems that were characterized by brittle regimes and experienced high levels of political volatility: they often lacked a clear boundary between the ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ of city states and were characterized by the multiple political organizations that crystallized in, and fought hard to control, urban political space. The most commonly shared type of political organization in city states was the urban lordship, but city-based lords usually found themselves in intense competition with elite-based collective associations, families and factions, and popular political organizations.

中文翻译：

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中世纪晚期地中海世界中的城邦

本文对中世纪后期地中海世界的基督教和伊斯兰教领域的城邦进行了比较研究，特别关注意大利、叙利亚和安达卢斯。中世纪的城邦通常不与伊斯兰世界联系在一起，而是与一种叙事突出了欧洲城市在世界历史上的特殊性质，尤其是意大利北部和中部著名的城市共和国，以及城邦在世界历史上所扮演的角色。欧洲国家的形成。然而，城市国家是一种现象，可以在地中海世界的城市化地区观察到，在持续的政治分裂背景下，城市变成了重要的政治舞台。最好将城邦视为以脆弱的政权为特征并经历高度政治动荡的政治体系：它们通常在城邦的“内部”和“外部”之间缺乏明确的界限，并以多个政治组织为特征在城市政治空间中并努力控制。城邦中最常见的政治组织类型是城市领主，但城市领主通常会发现自己与精英集体协会、家庭和派系以及流行的政治组织展开激烈的竞争。城市政治空间。城邦中最常见的政治组织类型是城市领主，但城市领主通常会发现自己与精英集体协会、家庭和派系以及流行的政治组织展开激烈的竞争。城市政治空间。城邦中最常见的政治组织类型是城市领主，但城市领主通常会发现自己与精英集体协会、家庭和派系以及流行的政治组织展开激烈的竞争。