With few exceptions, the rule of Italian princes was based on dominance over one or more cities and their territories. For all Italian princes, the legitimacy of their position and rule was founded on the validation of others. Princes might claim a right to rule by conquest or inheritance, they might claim that their authority came from God, but they could still feel the need for explicit validation from the people, the pope or the Emperor, none of which could be taken for granted. Some families or individuals achieved a position of such pre-eminence in their cities that they could be regarded and treated as being virtually signori, although no special office or title was bestowed on them. In practice, the authority, power and connections binding princes and subjects were based on negotiations, reciprocal understandings and undertakings, contracts even.