A signoria was the governing authority in many of the Italian city-states during the Medieval and Renaissance periods. The word signoria comes from signore, or "lord", an abstract noun meaning (roughly) "government", "governing authority", de facto "sovereignty", "lordship"; pl.: signorie.

The Italian city-states were numerous political and independent territorial entities that existed in the Italian Peninsula from antiquity to the formation of the Kingdom of Italy in the late 19th century.