Page "Signoria of Florence" Paragraph 1

The names of all guild members over thirty years old were put in eight leather bags called borse.

Every two months these bags were taken from the church of Santa Croce, where they were ordinarily kept, and in a short ceremony drawn out at random.

Only men who were not in debt, had not served a recent term, and had no relation to the names of men already drawn, would be considered eligible for office.