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errihu ago

A podesta was also a governor, as in a governor of territories, during the Italian city-states period. Venice and Florence and Milan, for instance, used podestas to govern their holdings outside the cities themselves. Podestas were frequently chosen from among the cities' nobility and elite. It's likely Podesta is a descendant of actual Italian podestas, which suggests a long-standing familial tie to the elite, particularly the Italian elite.