podesta, (“power”), in medieval Italian communes, the highest judicial and military magistrate. The office was instituted by the Holy Roman emperor Frederick I Barbarossa in an attempt to govern rebellious Lombard cities. From the end of the 12th century the communes became somewhat more independent of the emperor, and they began to elect their own podesta, who gradually superseded the collegiate government of consuls. Usually selected from another city or distant feudal family to ensure his neutrality in local disputes, the podesta was often a nobleman with legal training and served for one year (later, for six months). He summoned the councils, led the communal army, and administered civil and criminal jurisdiction. Though the office was subject to strict statutory limitations, it sometimes served as a starting point for the establishment of a despotic government, or signoria. After the 13th century the office declined in importance; in 15th-century Florence its principal functions were judicial.

Podesta was the title of mayors in the Austrian territories of Italy from 1815 to 1918 and of mayors appointed by the Italian government during the Fascist regime.